Dioptase (ex Paul Zerfass Collection)

Item Description

This piece did not come labeled as coming from Tsumeb, perhaps the intended locality was somewhere in Grootfontein District, Otjozondjupa Region, Namibia (it was hard to determine the actual name written down), but due to the Calcite and Duftite association, there is only one place where it could have been found. The piece features dozens of sharp, lustrous, gemmy, rich classic emerald green, trigonal crystals of Dioptase measuring up to 7 mm sitting on white rhombic Calcite withe yellow-green Duftite in areas on matrix. There are some spots of a soft sage green unidentified mineral as well. Some crytals are broken, but several of them are in good shape. From the collection of the long time, beloved, well-known French field collector, Paul Zerfass (Collection #582). Zerfass built this worldwide collection over nearly 50 years, many of which were personally collected. A biography featuring specimens from his collection (along with his face on the cover) is in the May - June 2017 issue of French mineral magazine, Le Regne Mineral. We have a .pdf copy of the article for anybody interested in reading it (though it's mostly in French). Just drop us a line and know that you'd like to have a copy.