Fluorite (rare ''ochsenauge'' habit crystals)

Item Description

A rarely seen specimen of Fluorite from the Ludwig-Vereinigt Feld Mine in Schönbrunn, Saxony, Germany. This locality has produced was are called "ochsenauge" (literally translated = "ox eye", but in English it's "bull's eye") habit crystals, and this piece is a great example of said material. A group of white, curved octahedral crystals are intergrown forming the "ochsenauge", with the largest individual crystal measuring 2.4 cm, perched atop matrix. You can see from the contacted area on the lower portion of the specimen, that the Fluorites are actually purple inside, but the layer deposition of white Fluorite on the exterior makes it difficult to see on the main crystal group. A really attractive and incredibly hard to find specimen of this unique habit for this diverse mineral species. From the collection of Kurt Hefendehl (#56 D), a well-known German collector all over Europe with worldwide contacts to dealers and collectors. He started collecting seriously at the age of 14 and his great and varied worldwide collection reached over 6000 pieces. He was very active mineralogically until shortly before his passing in 2020 at the age of 82. Considering his collection had a large number of pieces, it still had an unusually high standard of quality from most worldwide localities. He particularly specialized in all classics as well as minerals of the Black Forest, where he spent much time collecting. His Black Forest and German subcollections went to his good friend Wolfgang Wendel. We at The Arkenstone have the privilege of offering the remainder of this great worldwide collection over the next two to three years through our various platforms.