Opal var: Opal-AN (classic material)

Item Description

A beautiful specimen of this classic material from Valeč (Waltsch in German), where some of the finest examples of "Hyalite" Opal have been found. It should be noted that "Hyalite" is an archaic term for this material, as it is now classified as Opal-AN a variety of Opal with an amorphous botryoidal form that shows a glass-like structure. The entry on mindat.org states, "the 'A' in the name stands for amorphous; the subscript 'N' is to imply its structure is network-like similar to silica glass". This piece is a wonderful display specimen of this famous old material featuring very gemmy, colorless spherical groups of Opal-AN perched atop a thin slab of matrix. The Opal shows a strong green fluorescence under SW UV light, which is often the case with this mineral from various localities around the world.
From the collection of Kurt Hefendehl (#30 UN), 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 through our various platforms.