Prehnite ("cast" after Anhydrite)

Item Description

Some of my new favorite Prehnite specimens are those that have been recently found in Mali. I recently acquired a few specimens of what are some of the finest gem quality Prehnites that I've seen from any locality. This particular specimen consists wonderful, attractive, very gemmy, water-green color spherical aggregates of Prehnite which have a unique and interesting overgrowth of orthorhombic "clamshell" crystals on the sides of the "spheres". The final touch to these "spheres" is that they are included with prismatic, dark green Epidote crystals. To me, each individual sphere of Prehnite resembles the look of Princess Leia from the beginning of the original Star Wars movie where she had her hair spun into little buns on the side of her head. I will say that the Prehnites spheres are gemmy enough to facet gemstones. To top it off, the piece is actually a "cast" which formed after preexisting Anhydrite. You can clearly see the defined striations on the reverse side of the piece where the Anhydrite once existed. This is a very attractive and highly displayable specimen of a species that is often overlooked in the mineral world. Enjoy.