Diopside (classic material)

Item Description

A true East Coast classic. The Diopside crystals from De Kalb, New York are not only well-known and historically significant, but they are some of the best quality examples of the species you'll find. They typically have a softer green hue, but many of them are rather gemmy, bordering on GEM QUALITY, which is rare for the species in crystals this size. This piece is a good full-sized thumbnail with sharp, lustrous, well-formed prism faces on all sides, and the contrasting termination has been etched, to create a really unique appearance. Please note that the termination is not damaged, it simply has an unusual and possibly interrupted growth due to the etching, and it could have potentially grown against another crystal underground. When backlit, you can see it's nearly transparent in areas, with that classic De Kalb green hue. The base of the crystal was also etched at some point, but re-crystallized ("re-healed"), so this is technically a doubly-terminated crystal as well. Very attractive and distinctive and certainly in the upper ranks for its internal clarity. If you collect thumbnails, East Coast minerals or you've always wanted a piece of these classic Diopsides, don't miss out on this beauty. This is a classic US specimen, probably from the early to mid 1900s