Quartz var: Chalcedony (''clamshell'' cast)

Item Description

This is an unusual and eye-catching piece from Arizona. Those of you who collect US minerals, or specifically minerals of the Southwestern United States might have seen these specimens on the market in recent years. These interesting Chalcedony specimens have been found at quite a few different localities in Arizona and New Mexico, but recently some friends of ours collected these beautiful pieces from their fairly new claim in Arizona. We selected a handful of what we considered to be the best specimens from the lot and we're throwing some in the auctions to give everybody a chance to get their hands on one. This is an eye-catching piece featuring lovely lavender to pinkish colored Chalcedony that has formed in an almost "clamshell"-like shape, with a little dimple in the center and a bit of attached matrix, but if you look closely, you can see there is a small broken area revealing that the piece is actually HOLLOW inside(!), so this is a rarely seen "cast" of Chalcedony replacing an unknown mineral. The piece is actually fairly translucent when backlit. The color and form truly draw your attention, as the piece at first glance might remind one of something organic like coral. The piece fluoresces a BRIGHT NEON green hue under SW UV light. For those who collect Quartz and its numerous varieties, or for anybody interesting in colorful specimens from the Southwestern United States, don't miss out on this one, it's different from most Chalcedony you'll see on the market, especially because of the rare "cast" formation.