Fluorite (fluorescent 1800s-era classic) - 1 kilo crystal!

Item Description

The very word "fluorescence" was coined from the effect miners saw in fluorites from this district when they were brought up from the mines into the sunlight, and they glowed purple in DAYLIGHT even without the need of a special UV light. Crystals of this size and aspect are old, probably from prior to 1850, and turn up only in the oldest European and old classics collections. We seldom see any large ones for sale and when we do, they are often too damaged. They are desirable for their large size and purple color combined with gemminess, obviously, with the fluorescence being a bonus. This is a very fine, large, twinned, lustrous, and gemmy crystal showing interpenetration growth and only very very trivial edge wear, expected on a 200-year-old mineral and not visually detracting. It looks stunning on a shelf, and even more stunning if a bit of daylight hits it. There is, notably, a 6 mm thick band of light purple color banding at the termination, characteristic of this old mine. For such a large specimen the display faces are almost pristine, though there is very small wear and some damage in the bottom where it sits anyhow. The fluorescence is stunning! And, did we mention, this is a ONE KILO crystal! A previous dealer label from a friend here is priced at $6500, although that feels like a low, and old price (and it is from ten years ago). It was brought to our attention that some people were asking where the information comes from. For those of us who grew up in the hobby, it was pretty much common knowledge learned from the old books and the museums. Some good references to this kind of information in the history of these important specimens can be found in the books:  Gem and Crystal treasures by Peter Bancroft; the English omnibus  Robbing the Sparry Garniture; and in the Lindsay Greenbank Collection book we published thirteen years ago in collaboration with Mineralogical Record.