Fluorite (DUAL-SIDED specimen) (ex Dr. Stephen Smale Collection)

Item Description

The Shangbao Mine is famous for its beautiful Fluorites, which are a staple of any Fluorite collection or Chinese mineral collection. The Fluorites from this locality are some of the most distinctive, eye-catching and highest quality examples from anywhere in China. This wonderful cabinet display specimen features a predominant, sharp, lustrous, gemmy, beautiful purple colored Fluorite crystal measuring 5.4 cm across associated with a few additional Fluorites associated with scalenohedral, cream colored Calcite and pale pinkish Dolomite rhombs sitting on a thin layer of crystallized white Quartz matrix. This side of the specimen is certainly high quality and showy, but this piece has a hidden surprise because when you flip it over, you'll find even MORE Fluorite crystals of the same color and quality as the "front" of the specimen. Honestly there is no true "front" to this piece, as either side offers a lot in terms of style, color and quality. All of the crystals feature cubic and dodecahedral faces in pefect balance with one another. I cannot find any major damage anywhere on the piece, and it's obviously crystallized all the way around, though there is a some roughness around the periphery where it was removed from the pocket wall. A slight amount of "phantom" color zoning can be seen inside some of the Fluorite crystals, which are quite gemmy in areas. Indoors, the color of the Fluorites is a purple hue, but when you take the piece in the sun, the color shifts to more of a blue tone. Overall, it's very difficult to obtain pieces of this quality with such excellent aesthetics and balance. The piece really stands out as a SUPERB example from this famous mine. Valued at $4,000 in the inventory. Ex Dr. Stephen Smale Collection. Along with amassing one of the finest private mineral collections in the world, Steve is a renowned mathematician. His accomplishments include being awarded the Fields Medal in 1966 along with being the awarded the Wolf Prize in mathematics in 2007. You can read Steve's bio on the Mineralogical Record website ( https://mineralogicalrecord.com/labels.asp?colid=671&page=1 ) or on Wikipedia.