Quartz var: Amethyst (''flower'')

Item Description

A lovely complete, radial "flower" of purple Amethyst on matrix from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Most of the time, these "flower" are actually lifted from the copper-rich matrix, leaving only small amount of mossy green Celadonite on the back side, but this actually has a thin yet firm layer of matrix underneath, so the piece can sit on its own. There are dozens of tightly intergrown crystals here, the largest measuring 1.2 cm, with very well-formed terminations upon close inspection. These are some of the most unique and iconic Amethyst specimens in the world, and every good Quartz collection needs one, no to mention every Brazilian suite or just general worldwide minerals.
From the collection of Armon McPherson, a retired physicist, now living in New Mexico. Armon received his PhD from North Carolina State University in 1985, and worked at the laser laboratory at the University of Illinois at Circle Center. In the summer of 1997, Armon moved to the Argonne National Laboratory where he worked at the Advanced Photon Source, then the world’s largest synchrotron facility dedicated as an x-ray source. In 2001, he was asked to join a team at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque to conduct laser research for DARPA. Finally, staying within Sandia, he transferred to the Z Facility, the world’s most powerful x-ray facility. He retired in the spring of 2017. Armon's introduction to mineral collecting came in the 1980s during graduate school when he attended his first mineral show. He took up the hobby of faceting gems, and focused his early collection on gem crystals, and later transitioned into collecting non-gem species. We are proud to offer specimens from his worldwide mineral collection here for you.