large pink Grossular Garnet (old classic)

Item Description

This is a rather large example of the famous old pink garnets from Mexico , at 333 grams! These , in this size and with the rich pink color, were classics of the golden era of mineral collecting in the USA, and present in every major collection.I recall having one from Pete Bancroft and another from Sinkankas. They were treasured for the color and geometry, and large textbook crystal sizes. Modern material from the same lcoality is small and ugly compared to these old classics. This is from the 1960s, as it was #154 in Jack's collection and bought by him at the start, when he was most fascinated with trying to buy an example of every species and shape. It is not pristine - it has some bumps and bruises as you would expect for a 60-year-old, but it has good sharp surfaces, great luster for this material, rich color, and a strong impact visually despite a few bruised corners. We are truly honored to present this specimen from another lot of deaccessions from the collection of Jack Halpern of San Francisco, as featured in the Mineralogical Record, March 2005.