Calcite (unusual form!)

Item Description

Doubly terminated crystals of Calcite from Kavnik are not common and this is an excellent example from the locality. This cluster of no less than eight, elongate prismatic, pretty much gem clear, lustrous Calcite crystals are stacked horizontally and roughly pointing in the same direction. They range in length from 1.1 to 10 cm and all but a couple of the smaller crystals are doubly terminated. The large crystal has a couple of divergent, "faden-like" strings running through its length and there are also some very small inclusions at the interior along with faint, acutely angled interior cleavage traces that catch incident light for great affect. There are even some fine horizontal striations on the prism faces that look akin to those found on Quartz, and at first glance with these striations, the elongate prismatic habit and the high luster it does almost look like Quartz! This is a great cabinet Calcite from Romania that we rarely see in this habit, and is really a puzzler because everybody thinks it is a quartz at first~! From the noted European and worldwide collection of Kurt Hefendehl.