Grossular var: Chromium-bearing (rich color)

Item Description

The Grossular Garnets from the famed Jeffrey Mine are some of the most vivid and eye-catching examples of the species from any locality. This now closed open-pit mine produced Grossular that range from orange / golden to pink / peach and even colorless, but some of the strongest colored examples are the chromium-bearing crystals with intense green hues. Typically, these crystals are small, it seems that the chromium inhibits crystal growth, but they are still intensely colored for their size. This piece hosts dozens of small (in the 1-2 mm range), lustrous, sharp, dodecahedral crystals of strong green chromium-bearing Grossular measuring to about 1 mm, associated with a few prismatic crystals of light grey-green Diopside. No major damage, and the crystals look beautiful under magnification, as they are gemmy and electric in terms of color.
ATTENTION: We are happy to announce our new book featuring the Jack Halpern collection entitled "Addicted to Beauty", which will be available in March from the Mineralogical Record. The following is an excerpt from Rob Lavinsky from the foreword of the book. "I am honored to have been entrusted with the deaccessioning of Jack Halpern’s famed collection. This book is not only designed to commemorate Jack's minerals, but also the man himself and how he inspired so many of us who are in the hobby today. Regarding the sale of his collection, Jack’s one comment and wish to me and to his family and friends was that we would carry forward his 'Legacy of Beauty' out into the broad world."
From the collection of Jack Halpern No. 3691. 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