Corundum var: Ruby

Item Description

The wonderful, and sometimes very well-formed Ruby crystals found around Mysore, India are among some of the most well-known examples of this red variety of Corundum ever found. While they are rarely transparent (gem quality), they are often larger than other Ruby crystals from places like Myanmar or Tanzania/Kenya, and can show superb textbook crystal faces. This piece hosts a good quality, doubly-terminated hexagonal crystal, on matrix, but please note that one of the accompanying labels states that it is repaired. The crystal measures 1.8 cm, and has a rich purplish-red hue, and is fairly translucent when backlit. Several other smaller Rubies of equal quality can be seen on the piece as well. A wonderful display quality specimen of these lesser seen Rubies from this old famous locality. This piece was originally in the collection of Clifford Krueger.
From the collection of Jack Halpern No. 3121 . Jack was born May 18, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York, but has been a long-time resident of San Francisco. He assembled one of the great mineral collections in the world encompassing over 3,200 specimens with a specific emphasis on color, quality, and style/aesthetics, which is evident in every piece. He admired specimens of all sizes from thumbnails to large cabinets and the vast majority of them rank from fine to world-class in their quality.
Above all else, Jack is considered to be the greatest gentleman in the modern era of mineral collecting. He is beloved by all those who have met him, and he truly is one of the most iconic figures in the mineral world. We recently acquired Jack's collection, and the VAST majority of these pieces will be offered here in the auctions, as we feel that everyone deserves and equal opportunity at acquiring these important, well-documented and fine quality pieces for their collections. We are honored to have the opportunity to offer Jack's treasures to everyone on a regular basis in the auctions.
We encourage you to read our blog post at https://www.irocks.com/the-jack-halpern-collection or his profile on the Mineralogical Record website https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/halpernjack/ for more information