Beryl var: Aquamarine on Albite

Item Description

When it comes to fine quality crystallized display specimens of Aquamarine, on a worldwide scale, Pakistan is the most productive country for specimens in the modern age of mineral collecting. Going back to the 1990s, a very impressive number of some of the very finest quality Aquamarine specimens ever collected have come from the various pegmatites in the high mountains of Pakistan, namely in the Shigar Valley. This specimen features a superb, very sharp , highly lustrous, rather gemmy, beautiful icy blue color prismatic hexagonal crystal of Aquamarine measuring 6.0 cm, standing aesthetically on off-white Albite (var: Cleavelandite) matrix, which has thin coating of silvery Muscovite and nearly colorless Quartz. The smooth flat basal termination of the Aqua is in very good condition, but one small nick can be seen on one of the corners, so the piece is not 100% pristine. Overall the specimen is in great shape, and the presentation is fantastic. A really good, UN-REPAIRED matrix specimen of these world-class Aquas. Valued on the previous label at $7,000 retail.
From the collection of George Elling, a prominent East Coast collector.