Eudialyte (fine crystal)

Item Description

The Eudialyte specimens from the vast Khibiny Alkali Massif in Russia are well-known to collectors, but they can often feature somewhat crude to downright uncrystallized examples. THIS piece is a showy and fine quality display specimen which hosts a notably sharp and well-formed trigonal crystal of a soft pinkish hue measuring 2.1 cm, sitting atop massive Eudialyte matrix with a bit of accenting black Aegirine. To find such a fine quality, isolated, free-standing crystal sitting prominently atop the specimen is a big deal for this material, and you can see the smooth, defined faces on all sides. This is a rather impressive example of the species, not only from this locality, but worldwide. Admittedly, the Eudialytes from Greenland might be larger, but I would put this one up against anything form the Ilímaussaq Complex in terms of crystal morphology. You'd be hard-pressed to find another like this one from any locality on the market today. Originally in the collection of Ernie Schlichter. From the collection of Vasco Trancoso, a medical doctor and prominent mineral collector from near Lisbon, Portugal (https://www.mindat.org/user-11954.html). He assembled his mineral collection over the course of 60 years, and built a fine worldwide display collection that we recently purchased. This piece is pictured on mindat.org at https://www.mindat.org/photo-184252.html