Forsterite var: Peridot (sharp gemmy crystal)

Item Description

Peridot is well-known at least in the gem world, and this green variety of Forsterite is hard to find in excellent crystals, as it typically occurs in crude / granular examples in nature. There are a handful of localities where exemplary crystals of Peridot have been found, and Sapat Gali is certainly in the highest echelon in terms of size, color, sharpness and transparency. These attractive Peridots crystals began showing up in the early 1990s and no world locality has produced the quality and quantity of euhedral Peridot crystals like Sapat Gali. This miniature sized piece hosts a vibrant green colored, sharp, well-formed, euhedral, lustrous, very gemmy crystal, with an additional "side car" crystal on the left edge, an no real matrix to speak of. When backlit, you can see the upper and central portion of the crystal is almost completely transparent (I would say it's bordering on gem quality), and there are even some dark grey acicular inclusions of the rare borate Ludwigite frozen inside. Typically, even the gemmy Peridot crystals from this locality are either dull or rounded, but this one is better than most due to it's sharp, well-formed faces with good luster. The piece shows a glowing gorgeous green color inside.
Valued $4,000.
From the collection of Jack Halpern No. 2608 . Jack was born May 18, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York, but has been a long-time resident of San Francisco. He assembled one of the great mineral collections in the world encompassing over 3,200 specimens with a specific emphasis on color, quality, and style/aesthetics, which is evident in every piece. He admired specimens of all sizes from thumbnails to large cabinets and the vast majority of them rank from fine to world-class in their quality.
Above all else, Jack is considered to be the greatest gentleman in the modern era of mineral collecting. He is beloved by all those who have met him, and he truly is one of the most iconic figures in the mineral world. We recently acquired Jack's collection, and the VAST majority of these pieces will be offered here in the auctions, as we feel that everyone deserves and equal opportunity at acquiring these important, well-documented and fine quality pieces for their collections. We are honored to have the opportunity to offer Jack's treasures to everyone on a regular basis in the auctions.
We encourage you to read our blog post at https://www.irocks.com/the-jack-halpern-collection or his profile on the Mineralogical Record website https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/halpernjack/ for more information