Diopside (classic material) (ex Bob Whitmore Collection)

Item Description

The Belvidere Mountain Quarries (often referred to as Eden Mills) produced some iconic New England minerals specimens, including some of the finest orange Grossular Garnets along with some beautiful crystallized Diopside specimens. This piece is a fantastic old time Diopside featuring several crystals, which are intergrown to form a somewhat "fan"-like group of dark brownish-green colored prisms with attached Calcite(?) on the side. The terminations of all the Diopside crystals are in excellent condition, and the back edge is in good shape, despite a contact on the lower corner where it was removed from the pocket wall. The luster along the prism faces is bright and shiny, while the terminations have more of a matte luster. It's rare to find specimens from this locality on the market today, as the mine closed in 1993, so if you collect New England minerals, or specifically specimens from this locality, don't let this one get away. The specimen is from the collection of Bob Whitmore, whose accompanying label states that it was self-collected in 1969.