Sapphire in matrix (rare locality)

Item Description

While we often see quartz and aquamarine, and even some tourmaline, from the top of the world at the heights of the Himalaya Mountains, we seldom see good corundums (ruby and sapphire). From time to time, Nepal does produce some great rubies (John Barlow had some in the 1990s) but most were not in matrix. I had not seen good sapphires before this showed up, coming directly from a source in the Kathmandu marketplace in 2020. It features unusual sapphire crystals to 3 cm, well exposed from a schist and calcite matrix. The larger crystal has sharp trigons at the termination, adding subtle detail to an otherwise flat termination. The other crystals are partial (and actually this could be trimmed to make a smaller miniature with the main crystal as focus), but we left them on as they are accents for color, and help to show something unusual - some kind of odd composition that gives these an unusual orange fluorescence, only in discrete zones. We cannot say what causes this unusual behavior under ultraviolet light. Also, no more came out - this was a one-off, from the marketplace source for many of the famous gemmy Japan Law quartz twins that came to market in the last 5 years. Donated by The Arkenstone.

This specimen is part of the 2022 Dallas Mineral Collecting Symposium benefit auction, with proceeds benefiting Mineralogical Record, Rocks & Minerals, Tucson Gem and Mineral Society, and mindat.org. Thanks to all of our participants!

Billing for this auction will occur on Monday, August 22, for payment using PayPal or a credit card. Shipping will be billed at cost.