Kermesite (superb crystals)

Item Description

In the very early 2000s, for a notably brief time, the finest Kermesite crystals ever seen came out of what is now referred to as the Kermesite occurrence in Dafeng, Guangxi, China. The size and quality of these Kermesites was simply better than anything that had been seen before, or since for that matter. This rare antimony oxysulfide species has been found in many localities, primarily in Europe over the years, but crystals were often very thin and "needle"-like and rarely exceed a few cm in length. The specimens from Dafeng where notably broad for the species, and measured many multiple cm in length. This piece is a beautiful example featuring many very sharp, highly lustrous, well-formed, prismatic dark silvery-grey metallic crystals measuring up to 1.8 cm, sitting on matrix. We even found a tiny "sprays" of pale yellow Valentinite crystals on the piece for a nice touch! These specimens are virtually impossible to find on the market now, and if you collect sulfides, rarities or Chinese minerals, this is great chance to pick up a piece of this classic material from about 25 years ago.
From the collection of Kurt Hefendehl (#235 C), 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 coming months and years through our various platforms.