Rhodochrosite (great quality for the locality) (ex Gary Weaver Collection)

Item Description

The Grizzly Bear Mine is well-known among Colorado collectors for producing some really gorgeous Rhodochrosite specimens in the 1980s and 1990s. This piece is a beautiful small cabinet that features FINE quality, albeit small, rhombs of Rhodochrosite for the locality. Typically, the Rhodos from this mine are barely translucent or essentially opaque, but these crystals are GEMMY(!) and show a very saturated pink color, which is significant as they only measure about 3 mm. The Rhodos are very sharp, lustrous and well-formed. Nearly every crystal is undamaged, and they look just as good up close as they do from afar. The matrix features a layer of gemmy, colorless / white sparkling Quartz crystals and a smattering of black Sphalerite and minor Pyrite. A really good quality and showy specimen of this beloved material from the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. From the collection of Gary Weaver (1944-2019), an electrical engineer who worked for Hughes Aircraft in California. After retiring to Prescott, Arizona in the early 2000s, Gary rekindled his childhood love of minerals, amassing a collection of roughly 2000 specimens, focusing on localities in which he and his wife had lived or visited (Mexico, Peru and the western / southwestern United States). You can read Gary's obituary here https://www.dcourier.com/news/2019/apr/27/obituary-gary-richard-weaver/