Pezzottaite (very rare)

Sakavalana, near Ambatovita, Mandrosonoro area, Fianarantsoa Province, Madagascar (Type Locality)
Thumbnail, 1.3 x 1.0 x 0.5 cm
Start Time: 04/16/2020 8:45:00 pm (CDT)
End Time: 04/23/2020 6:50:00 pm (CDT)
Auction Closed
Winning Bid: $104

Item Description

The discovery of Pezzottaite was one of the great rare species discoveries in the modern era of mineral collecting. Most new mineral species are typically microscopic and not terribly colorful. Pezzottaite is one of those species found in not only eye-visible crystals (some measure many cm), but it has a beautiful strong pink color. The species is a cesium rich member of Beryl group and was named after Dr. Federico Pezzotta of Milan, Italy and was approved by the IMA in September 2003. This material is almost non-existent on the market, and from what I've been told, there may never be any more specimens from Sakavalana again. The shortage of Pezzottaite specimens on the market has immediately caused these crystals to go up in value. This attractive little crystal is from the type locality and dates back to the very first material found. It shows the classic intense pink color with good crystal form and gemminess. It's in very good condition on the front, but it's not complete on the back. A very attractive thumbnail specimen of a species that is virtually impossible to obtain today. We were fortunate to acquire this piece from an old small stash of crystals in a dealer's inventory with the original name Béryl Framboise ("raspberry" beryl) when they first hit the market (before they were named Pezzottaite).

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Bidding History

Bid Amount Bid Time
$104 04/23/2020 6:42:39 pm (CDT)
$94 04/23/2020 4:31:33 pm (CDT)
$84 04/23/2020 1:43:48 pm (CDT)
$79 04/23/2020 1:43:47 pm (CDT)
$74 04/23/2020 1:43:23 pm (CDT)
$64 04/23/2020 1:43:22 pm (CDT)
$54 04/21/2020 12:22:01 am (CDT)
$49 04/21/2020 12:22:00 am (CDT)
$35 04/20/2020 8:30:26 pm (CDT)
$30 04/20/2020 4:19:11 pm (CDT)
$25 04/20/2020 11:42:11 am (CDT)
$20 04/19/2020 7:24:56 pm (CDT)
$15 04/19/2020 7:34:03 am (CDT)
$10 04/19/2020 12:12:52 am (CDT)