Fluorapatite

Item Description

This specimen is labeled in Kurt's collection catalogue as coming from the Shalman Valley which is located in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan, but I can't find any other specimens which are labeled as coming from this area. With that said, it's clearly from an "Alpine-type" cleft deposit, of which there are many in the high Pakistani mountains. This piece is similar to pieces I've seen from the Austrian Alps, featuring colorless, gemmy, lustrous tabular crystals of Fluorapatite measuring up to 1.8 cm, associated with light yellow-green crystals of Epidote, along with matte dull green colored "Chlorite" with dark grey-black Clinochlore on matrix. Most of the Apatites are in very good condition, as I can't find any major damage anywhere, only a few small blemishes. The piece sits quite nicely on its own without a base or clay. Pieces like this are much more valued by European collectors as matrix Apatites with Epidote from true Alpine localities are rare and beloved, so when you find a good one like this from Pakistan, it should be equally prized.
From the collection of Kurt Hefendehl (#185 AP), a well-known German collector all over Europe with worldwide contacts to dealers and collectors. He started collecting seriously at the age of 14 and his great and varied worldwide collection reached over 6000 pieces. He was very active mineralogically until shortly before his passing in 2020 at the age of 82. Considering his collection had a large number of pieces, it still had an unusually high standard of quality from most worldwide localities. He particularly specialized in all classics as well as minerals of the Black Forest, where he spent much time collecting. His Black Forest and German subcollections went to his good friend Wolfgang Wendel. We at The Arkenstone have the privilege of offering the remainder of this great worldwide collection over the following months and years through our various platforms.