Quartz (unusual scepter crystals) with unique color zoned Fluorite (ex Dr. Stephen Smale Collection)

Item Description

A highly aesthetic small cabinet sized piece of these classic specimens from the famous Huanggang Mine. This locality has given collectors some of the most unique and distinctive specimens from any Chinese locality. This piece features several unusual scepter habit Quartz crystals with defined pyramidal crystal habits (sometimes people called these "beta" Quartz crystals, but it's not the appropriate use of the term) measuring up to 7.1 cm long which are associated with a blocky 4.0 cm cuboctahedral crystal of Fluorite, which is predominantly colorless, but you can see that there is a beautiful golden-brown color zoning that appears only on the cubic faces. I can't remember seeing a piece quite like this from Huanggang before, as the distinctive habit of the Quartz and the odd coloring of the Fluorite certainly stand out from everything else I've encountered from this deposit. Minor silvery-grey Lollingite and muted green Hedenbergite can be seen on the underside of piece as well for a nice touch. The piece is incredibly showy and aesthetic and displays wonderfully as you can see from the photos. No major damage that I can see on the front/display side of the piece. Priced at $3,500 retail in our inventory. 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.co... ) or on Wikipedia.