Orthoclase (''floater'' Carlsbad twin) (rare locality specimen)

Item Description

Here we have a fantastic piece for all you Feldspar enthusiasts or collectors of twinned crystals out there. This piece is from Pikes Peak, Colorado, which according to Wikipedia is the highest mountain peak of the southern portion of Front Range of the Rocky Mountains in North America. Pikes Peak used to be a general locality term given a lot of Feldspar found around central Colorado (namely Amazonite), but there are many localities in multiple counties that produce excellent specimens of Microcline, Orthoclase and Albite surrounding Pikes Peak. This piece is a well-formed, blocky, beige colored "floater" Carlsbad-twinned crystal of Orthoclase. Carlsbad twins are penetration twins where the crystals are oriented at opposite polar directions along the "c" axis. The name comes from the Karlovy Vary District in Czech Republic (formerly Carlsbad) where this twinning habit was first observed. You don't see a lot of these on the market, and this is not from the famous West Maroon Pass locality which is much further west of Pikes Peak, this is a rare locality specimen and a highly desirable example that dates back many decades, probably 1960s. This piece comes from the collection of Colorado mining legend, Dave Bergman. Dave is now retired from mining, but spent many years underground, including as the foreman and primary person in charge of recovering specimens at the famous Sweet Home Mine near Alma, Colorado during the late 1970s. He is also the maternal grandfather of Brian Kosnar. See Dave's photo mining at the Sweet Home on page 58 of Peter Bancroft's book "Gem and Crystal Treasures".