Imperial Topaz (GEM quality) (rare locality)

Item Description

Everybody is familiar with Imperial Topaz crystals from Brazil, but this little known locality in Zambia has been producing some superb examples going back to around 2009. The best of these crystals are favorably comparable to their counterparts from Ouro Preto in terms of size, color, luster and crystallization, but I would say that many of the Zambian crystals are GEMMIER than those you'll see from Brazil. The reason you don't see any many gem quality Brazilian crystals is because a large percentage of them are faceted into gemstones, but our friend in Zambian didn't want to butcher good crystals, so we were fortunate to get some pieces like this with excellent gem clarity. A couple months ago at the Tucson Show we acquired a small parcel from a good friend who owns a claim in Zambia and is actively mining this material, and literally just took these out of the ground at the end of 2021. This piece is a superb, sharp, lustrous, soft orange color crystal with WATER CLEAR clarity near the termination. The piece has a classic "chisel"-shaped termination just like the Brazilian crystals, and there is even a tiny "sidecar" crystal on the base of the piece for a nice touch. No major damage, and it's very showy and supreme quality all around. A lovely example of these attractive and exciting new crystals, don't miss out.