rich, large Crystallized Turquoise (rare) ex Kidwell

Item Description

Sparkling, best of color, stunning teal-blue Turquoise microcrystals richly cover portions of the Quartz matrix on this stunning small cabinet specimen from the locality with the best Turquoise crystals in the world - the Bishop Mine at Lynch Station, Virginia. Tiny, discrete, well-formed Turquoise crystals like this are very rare and these are classic for this historic locality and are seldom available today. Nuggets and veins are common, but these crystals, although small, are considered the classical example of actual real crystallization in this species. Up close, they are glassy and sharp: The translucent, shimmering blue Turquoise crystals are tightly grouped and completely cover an area measuring approximately 4.5 x 3 cm on the vein Quartz matrix along with lighter colored, less dense patches in a larger adjacent areas and then a few veinlets running through the Quartz. The teal-blue Turquoise and the milky white to grayish Quartz makes for a colorful and contrasting piece, especially for a cabinet size specimen! For sheer richness of color and coverage, this is one of the better pieces we have seen and it is clearly old material from this important locality. It is a very rich and striking piece. In this size, if and when they actually turn up, they are priced at shows at over $1000. Al Kidwell purchased this in 1963 for $50 but valued at $100, according to his label. That is a lot of money at that time, so it shows you what he thought of it. From the diverse and historic collection of one of the great field collectors and mineralogists of mid-1900s Texas, Albert Kidwell of Houston (1919-2008), after whom the mineral Kidwellite is named.