Green Spodumene (doubly-terminated crystal with ''phantoms'')

Item Description

Spodumene crystals have been found in many colors, but green is quite possibly the most difficult hue to obtain. Keep in mind that a lot of Spodumene around the world is actually opaque, and there have only been a few places historically that produced transparent crystals. Going back a few decades, we started seeing excellent crystallized examples of gem-grade Spodumenes coming out of Afghanistan. The green crystals were sometimes referred to as Hiddenite, and there has been a debate as to whether or not Hiddenite can only be used to refer to the chromium / vanadium bearing varieties of green Spodumene. A brief paragraph on mindat states that any green Spodumene can be referred to as Hiddenite. From mindat.org: "Hiddenite was not originally defined by Kunz as has been sometimes claimed. Smith (1881) did state: "I have employed all the necessary care in examining for chromium, but have found no indication of its presence." Smith tried to verify the presence of vanadium, but could only conclude that his qualitative results would have been similar to either vanadium or chromium. Smith does indicate that his hiddenite varied from pale green to emerald green, "though the color is not so intense as in the finest variety of the latter gem." Colorless or yellow Spodumene should not be referred to as Hiddenite. Green spodumene that is photosensitive and not permanently color stable is not hiddenite." This particular piece is an impressive, good sized, doubly-terminated gem crystal with sharp, well-defined faces (no etching that I can see) and good luster. The piece is complete all around, with no real damage I can find. My favorite aspect of the piece is the fact that when you backlight it, there are several distinct internal "phantoms" that can be seen, which is fairly rare in gem Spodumenes. The prism faces feature attractive pronounced striations, a classic characteristic for the Spodumene. Like all Spodumene crystals, if you view this one down the "c" axis, the color is more intense do to the pleochroic nature of the species. There are few places in the world that produce such attractive gem quality examples of Spodumene like this, and they are certainly a must have for any collector of gem crystals or pegmatite minerals. BETTER IN PERSON, the video didn't capture enough of the color. Specimen weight is 113.3 grams. Valued $2,400.