Petalite (fine sharp crystal)

Item Description

Petalite is an uncommon lithium silicate, and while it is found in a good number of world localities, there are not many places in the world where sharp crystals of any size can be found. Around 2003 there were some impressive examples discovered at the famous locality at Paprok in Afghanistan. This piece is from that find and is one of the better examples we've had to offer. It is a good sized, sharp, well-formed, fairly lustrous, prismatic crystal with a nearly white / colorless hue and good gem sections here and there. My favorite aspect of the piece is how smooth and well-formed several of the faces are, a rare trait in a Petalite this siz.e You can see there is a slight amount of hydrothermal etching to create a nice mix of smooth and rugged areas all over the crystal. The piece weighs in at 16.90 grams, and were it not for a nick along termination, it would be essentially damage free on the display side. It's even partially crystallized on the bottom, making it nearly a "floater". You just don't see Petalites of this size or quality from anywhere these days, and if you collect pegmatite minerals, you can't afford to miss out on this one. Valued at $1,250.