Grandidierite (extremely rare) (ex David Burgess Collection)

Item Description

Grandidierite is one of the great gem old species, originally found in Madagascar in 1902 and highly valued and sought after today. This mineral is one of the great combinations of rarity and beauty (in terms of color) in the mineral world. This particular piece is from the type locality for the species, but I don't know if it's an older specimen or from a more contemporary find. You can see it has the well-known characteristic strong greenish-blue color, and although it's not gem quality, it's still somewhat translucent when backlit. It's not a complete crystal, or more specifically a crystal group, but you can still see the prismatic habit. It's difficult to determine if any of the crystals are actually terminated, or if they have rough contact terminations, or if they're simply contacted / broken. Recently some new specimens were found at this locality, including some gem quality material, which has done a lot of boost the awareness and value of the material worldwide. If you collect rarities, gem crystals or classic species, take advantage of this chance to own a piece of this historic and beautiful material. From the worldwide collection of David Burgess (1951-2016). David was a prolific species collector from Newington, Connecticut, and the namesake for the extremely rare cobalt arsenate species Burgessite, which he discovered.