Dioptase (doubly-terminated)

Item Description

This is a beautiful and classic display specimen of Dioptase from the famed Tsumeb Mine. It could be argued that the species that is best known from this prestigious and prolific locality is Dioptase, as the finest specimens from this mine are unmatched in their color and quality. This piece is a showy miniature featuring a 1.6 cm, razor-sharp, lustrous, well-formed, doubly-terminated, gemmy, deep emerald green colored trigonal crystal of Dioptase aesthetically flaring off a matrix of grey Calcite, with tiny pale green rhombs of Smithsonite to create a highly displayable specimen. It's rare to get a single isolated doubly-terminated Dioptase crystal on matrix like this from Tsumeb, and it's good sized to boot, along with being well-positioned on the matrix. I can see one tiny ding on the back edge, so the crystal is not completely pristine, but it's close and you really don't see the damage from the front/display side of the piece. A fantastic piece of this world-renowned, highly sought after and iconic material from what many people consider to be the world's greatest mineral locality. Valued $6,000
From the collection of Jack Halpern No. 2411 . 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