Ilmenite (fine crystals)

Item Description

A fine quality crystal group comprising sharp, well-formed, lustrous, metallic, dark silvery-grey colored thick bladed crystal of Ilmenite, free of matrix from the famed Arendal locality in Norway. There is a bit of roughness on the edges where the piece was separated from the pocket wall, but it's largely in very good shape. It's notably rare to find good crystals of Ilmenite (think of it chemically as Hematite + titanium), especially in this size, and these old specimens from Norway are some of the best examples of the species, and true European classics. The piece comes from the collection of Steve Chamberlain, with a label from noted rarities dealer Josef Vajdak, whose label states, "very rare in crystal form".