Beryl var: Morganite

Item Description

Morganite is the name given to the pink variety of Beryl, in honor of J. P. Morgan, the financier and gem collector from New York who contributed many superb gems and minerals to the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Prior to the discovery of Morganite in Afghanistan and Pakistan, most of the crystals were singles, off matrix. and it was a big deal to find a complete Morganite on matrix from places like San Diego County, California or Brazil. Once the pieces from places like Dara-e-Pech, Afghanistan started to hit the market, it re-defined Morganite in terms of highly displayable collector specimens. This piece is a fantastic example of said material featuring a sharp, lustrous, gemmy/translucent, soft pink colored, hexagonal crystal of Morganite measuring 5.1 cm, aesthetically perched atop a matrix composed of white Albite, colorless / white Quartz and bladed silvery Muscovite. The Morganite crystal is pristine on the front / display side, though it's partially incomplete on the back, and if you look closely, it has intricate and detailed etching patterns on the basal termination that look like ethereal ice crystals on the surface. A fine quality and highly displayable example of these classic and iconic Beryls from one of the top pegmatite localities in the world over the last few decades. If I had this one on the shelf at a show, I would put a price of about $4,000 retail on it.