Morganite with Topaz (rare combination)

Item Description

There are only a few places in the world where fine gem quality Morganite crystals are found, i.e., San Diego County, California along with Brazil and Afghanistan. These days, the majority of the really prized Morganite specimens come from Afghanistan, and this particular piece actually came from a very small but important discovery in the 1990s. Not only is this a superb display quality Morganite, but it has the added bonus of being associated with GEM QUALITY Topaz crystals, a great rarity not only for Afghanistan, but for Morganite worldwide. This small cabinet hosts a pair of a sharp, well-formed, stout, barrel-shaped, baby pink color, gemmy hexagonal crystals of Morganite measuring up to 4.0 cm long which are associated with many WATER CLEAR, very sharp, highly lustrous, colorless Topaz prisms sitting on a bit of white Albite matrix with a small bit of black Schorl Tourmaline. The main Morganite crystal is doubly-terminated, and is notably prismatic is habit, which is rare for Morganite as most of the mare typically "flat" or tabular. The "c" / pinacoid faces on both of the Morganites are glassy and permits one to view deep into the GEM interior of each crystal. I really love the small first and second order pyramidal modifications on each Morganite, giving both crystals added character. Now the larger Morganite is not 100% complete, as it has a few contacts, and a spot of contatced / interrupted growth on the side where it clearly grew against the pocket wall, but the piece is still very showy and three-dimensional, and the important Topaz association makes it a highly desirable specimen of this classic material. For the size, overall form and the incredibly hard to find combination, this is a very worthwhile and eye-catching specimen that would fit beautifully into a gem crystal collection, a pegmatite species suite or a collection of uncommon associations. This piece was priced in our inventory at $3,000 retail.