Gem Morganite on Quartz (ex Bill Larson) - old classic

Item Description

Good, really sharp Morganites from the White Queen Mine are among the most desirable of the San Diego County pegmatite species and of USA gem crystals in general! They are one of those old USA classics you see in books, and in the Smithsonian, but almost never for sale in person. You almost never see them for sale and certainly not combined with a big, robust, terminated Quartz crystal like this stellar cabinet specimen from the Bill Larson collection of San Diego minerals! A pink, 2.5 cm, hexagonal Morganite is perfectly displayed on one of the broad prism faces of the Quartz crystal and there is also a slightly smaller, flatter Morganite in offset parallel growth with the larger one. The Morganites are complex (they have glassy lustrous sharp edges and to be technical: pinacoid and prism faces and satin lustered pyramidal faces) for a nice textural contrast against the dove gray and gray-white, blocky Quartz crystal. The Quartz crystal faces also display moderate luster and have sharp edges. The base of the Quartz crystal reveals that it grew on a blue indicolite Tourmaline crystal with some associated Albite. A commanding and attractive White Queen piece, with very unusual aesthetics as these most often occur on albite and white rock matrix rather than actually ON another crystallized mineral species. This is from the lifelong San Diego collection of Bill Larson which he started as a child and has been working at for nearly 70 years (yes, he really is that old now!). He did not always keep the most valuable things from his mining or from exchanges with the legendary people he grew up with who owned these mines, but he DID keep what was most interesting, more often than not. This is unique. This was on display in his shop, The Collector, for decades and comes with his display base. These turn up so rarely, they are very difficult to value on the public market.