Cassiterite with Aquamarine on Muscovite (ex Dr. Stephen Smale Collection)

Item Description

The specimens from Pingwu are some of the most unique and attractive pieces from any Chinese locality. Some of the most distinctive specimens of Cassiterite and Aquamarine have come from this locality. This particular piece features several very sharp, lustrous, jet-black twins of Cassiterite measuring up to 1.5 cm which are associated with GEM quality, very pale blue color, unusually tabular hexagonal crystals of Aquamarine measuring up to 1.6 cm across sitting atop a crystallized matrix of compressed, bladed, silvery Muscovite. It's rare to find tabular Aquamarine crystals from any locality, let alone such fine quality examples with Cassiterite like this! The quality is very good all around, with only a tiny bit of roughness that I can see on the Cassiterites. A great quality association specimen from this unique locality. Priced at $850. Ex Dr. Stephen Smale Collection. Along with amassing one of the finest private mineral collections in the world, Steve is a renowned mathematician. His accomplishments include being awarded the Fields Medal in 1966 along with being the awarded the Wolf Prize in mathematics in 2007. You can read Steve's bio on the Mineralogical Record website ( https://mineralogicalrecord.com/labels.asp?colid=671&page=1 ) or on Wikipedia.