Dioptase

Item Description

Dioptase is a well-known and beloved species among collectors, but good specimens are only found in a handful of localities around the world. Going back a few years, some really impressive display specimens of Dioptase starting trickling out of the Pool Department of the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville). The finest examples of this material actually host some very good sized, well-formed, sharp, lustrous crystals with excellent emerald green color and are even gemmy(!) to boot. This miniature sized display specimen host very attractive Dioptase crystals with top luster, razor sharp faces and textbook trigonal forming a nice overall specimen. The largest Dioptase measures 1.3 cm long. Nearly all of the Dioptase crystals are in good shape, but there are some crystals on the edge which are contacted where the piece was removed from the pocket wall. When you put these crystals up to a strong light source, you can see that electric green color coming through. Some crystals even show slight internal "phantoms"! The overall aesthetic appeal combined with excellent quality and size of the Dioptase crystals makes this a very desirable specimen of this eye-catching contemporary material. It's not quite Tsumeb quality, but if it were a Tsumeb specimen, the price would be notably higher. We had this piece priced in the inventory at $950.