Quartz with Ajoite inclusions (classic locale) Hefendehl Coll.

Item Description

Beautiful turquoise-blue Ajoite is included in the terminations of this impressive sculptural small cabinet cluster of intergrown Quartz crystals from the famous Messina Mine. The terminations of the first generation of Quartz are coated by Ajoite, and then a second generation of Quartz preserves it as a wonderful turquoise-blue phantoms within. The lustrous Quartz crystals are transparent to translucent and the stepped-growth faces add character. The striking dominating large Quartz is 8.7 cm long. Ajoite is a RARE copper silicate and the Messina Mine has easily produced the world's finest examples of these unique and beautiful Quartz crystals. Specimens were intermittently collected in 1985,1991 and finally 2007-2010. This excellent older piece is from the famous 1985 first find or the 1991 find. See the 1991 Mineralogical Record article in Vol. 22, No. 3. The mine closed in 1996. These are one of the most famous of all mineral combination specimens for the collector and this is a very fine and rich example because it is natural and not polished as most are. Ex Hefendehl Collection. Kurt Hefendehl was a most well-known collector in the mineral world all over Europe with worldwide contacts to dealers and collectors. He started seriously collecting in the age of 14 and his great and various worldwide collection reached a number of over 6000 pieces. He was incredibly mineralogically active, until shortly before his passing in 2020 in the age of 82 years. His collection had, considering that high number of pieces, an unusual high quality standard from most worldwide localities. He particularly specialized in all classics; and the minerals of the Black Forest where he spent many visits collecting (that and the Germany subcollection went to his good friend Wolfgang Wendel. The Italian suite went to Marini). We have the rest to offer over the next 2-3 years, through our platforms. We have lost a great friend and connoisseur, a true mineral collector of the Golden Age.