Pyrite with Spessartine Garnet, Smoky Quartz and Fluorite (ex Dr. Stephen Smale Collection)

Item Description

Any fan of Chinese minerals can tell you that the pieces from the Wushan Mine are some of the most impressive mineral specimens from any Chinese locality. The combination of the brilliant orange Spessartine crystals often associated with Smoky Quartz is not only iconic, but these are now classics in the mineral world. This piece not only features Spessartine and Smoky Quartz, but they're actually overshadowed by a very good sized, sharp, lustrous, soft golden color metallic cubic crystal of Pyrite (with tiny octahedral modifications) measuring 1.3 cm sitting on the top right corner of the piece. Obviously there are dozens of brilliant, sharp, lustrous, gemmy, fine orange color trapezohedral Spessartines along with a few gemmy grey Smoky Quartz crystals, but if you look closely, you can see a couple small GEM quality, nearly colorless Fluorite octahedra measuring up to 7 mm across just below the Pyrite. The final touch to the piece is a dusting of pale greenish-tan colored Muscovite. No major damage that I can see. It's quite rare to have this combination of minerals species with their distinctive colors together on the same specimen. If you collect Chinese minerals, don't miss out on this one as few are available on the market now. Priced in the inventory at $1,650. Ex Dr. Stephen Smale Collection. Along with amassing one of the finest private mineral collections in the world, Steve is a renowned mathematician. His accomplishments include being awarded the Fields Medal in 1966 along with being the awarded the Wolf Prize in mathematics in 2007. You can read Steve's bio on the Mineralogical Record website ( https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/smalestephen/ ) or on Wikipedia.