Fluorapatite on Lepidolite (ex Kay Robertson Collection)

Item Description

Fluorapatite is found in virtually all colors of the rainbow, but the most sought after hue has to be purple. Outside of the pieces from Golconda, you don't see a lot of purple Apatites from any Brazilian locality. This piece is only labeled as coming from "Minas Gerais", so it's hard to determine exactly where it was found. Here we have a really eye-catching and aesthetic display quality miniature sized specimen featuring and 2.6 cm, stout purple colored Fluorapatite crystal which is aesthetically flaring off beige colored columnar "Lepidolite" Mica matrix. It should be noted that Lepidolite is no longer a valid species, and now defined as a series between Polylithionite and Trilithionite. The Apatite crystal is undamaged on the front side, but the piece is contacted on the back. The habit of the Apatite is not your typical simple hexagonal prism, as it shows several modifying faces, and is much thicker than we're used to seeing from any Brazilian locality. When backlit you can see the purple color light up along with flashes of golden-brown, making for a nice contrast. A very attractive piece of this highly sought after shade of Apatite. Priced at $1,200 in the inventory. Ex Kay Robertson Collection (#11880). Kay is a prominent California collector, who specialized in European classics (see the article in the March-April, 2007 Mineralogical Record and the 50+ page article in the German Magazine "Mineralien Welt" November-December 2017).