Fluorite

Item Description

This is a very large, complete example of an unusually aesthetic large piece for this somewhat obscure locality tucked away in the mountains north of Milan and operated as a hobby mine, for fun, by the Pezzotta family. Note the heavy etching. It is a miracle that any crystal this large survived in the pocket, with such natural dissolution effects going on during its lifetime! The etching is so alien-like and extreme that is attractive rather than ugly or jarring, creating a unique look to these fluorites compared to your "standard" purple fluorite. That is how I see it, anyhow. Most fluorites from here are small and flattish (and again, all heavily etched). This is a large single fluorite crystal on matrix from this recently mined locality. In person, the light sparkles and reflects of myriad subtle small faces that the camera cannot easily capture, and so it is even more sparkly in person than it appears here where it actually is still showing so lustrous that it looks wet in the photos (but it was not wet! That is the natural high luster!) Joe Budd photos. Again, even for those who have seen 1000 fluorites, this looks DIFFERENT, and in such a bizarre away that it looks organic, for lack of a better word. It almost looks like purple foam...nothing else like it. This large specimen came from mining here circa 2010. Valued $7500-plus and it is intact and without repair.