Quartz w/ Montmorillonite inclusions (Bill Larson Coll.)

Item Description

Pink montmorillonite is richly included in this pristine, impressive, lustrous, sharply terminated quartz crystal from the famous White Queen Mine. Dramatically, the crystal is etched and hollow in the interior! In the old days, people sawed them in half to make bookends, and the rich pink patternig inside is a beautiful sight, with hints of it on the outside. Discovered in 1901, this classic locale only had major collecting efforts beginning in the early 1960s, when a road was built to the pegmatite. Large pockets found in the 1960s and 70s produced ton after ton of such included quartz specimens, including very large crystals, along with fine morganites. The finest morganites from the mine were recovered from a 1990 pocket. The mine is on Pala Tribe Indian lands as of 1992 (MINDAT). Ex Bill Larson San Diego County Pegmatite Collection and long on display at his Pala International shop in Fallbrook. This exceptional small cabinet is from the 1960s or 70s finds, and is a California classic, now fairly rare on the market.