Hematite (rare locality)

Item Description

A very hard to find Hematite specimen from the famed town of Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, the home of the one of the top mineral shows in the world. According to other specimens I've found, this piece was likely mined in the 1980s. It features hundreds of thin bladed hexagonal crystals, which are tightly intergrown to create beautiful dark metallic black layered groups with an almost chatoyant luster. Apparently these specimens were found encased in Quartz, which was etched away to reveal the beautiful Hematite crystals within. This is certainly a rare style for the species, so you have a combination of a rare locality and a hard to find crystal form, making for a showy and eye-catching display specimen. There are some surface bruises, so the piece is not 100% pristine, but it's still a good representation of these seldom-seen Hematites. From the collection of Kurt Hefendehl (#76 F), a well-known German collector all over Europe with worldwide contacts to dealers and collectors. He started collecting seriously at the age of 14 and his great and varied worldwide collection reached over 6000 pieces. He was very active mineralogically until shortly before his passing in 2020 at the age of 82. Considering his collection had a large number of pieces, it still had an unusually high standard of quality from most worldwide localities. He particularly specialized in all classics as well as minerals of the Black Forest, where he spent much time collecting. His Black Forest and German subcollections went to his good friend Wolfgang Wendel. We at The Arkenstone have the privilege of offering the remainder of this great worldwide collection over the next two to three years through our various platforms. Priced at $1,500 in our inventory.