Fluorapatite (fine purple color)

Item Description

Apatite is one of those minerals that is found in lot of different colors, but nearly all collectors and dealers would agree that the most desirable and beautiful color for the mineral is purple. Now to be fair, Apatite is not an actual species, most of what you see on the market is Fluorapatite, but it's commonly referred to as "Apatite" by most people. This piece is a wonderful purple Apatite specimen from the Mawi Pegmatite in Afghanistan. A predominant, sharp, well-formed, prismatic translucent, beautiful rich purple color hexagonal crystal of Fluorapatite measuring 2.2 cm is associated with dark green-black Tourmaline along with minor Quartz, Feldspar and Muscovite Mica. Not only does the Fluorapatite crystal have excellent color, but it also has a slight internal haze which creates a wonderful "cat's eye" effect when the crystal is rotated in the light. You rarely see such well-formed and eye-catching purple crystals from any locality, let alone crystals on matrix like this. This piece is from an older find, dating back to around 2004-2005, and you really don't see too many of them on the market these days. I love the fact that the Apatite on this specimen is not etched or "rough" on the exterior, it has very well-formed faces. Priced at $1,200 in the inventory.