Scheelite (fluorescent)

Item Description

Pingwu is a storied locality for our time, with mineral specimens such as this well-formed and perfectly complete miniature demonstrating just why Scheelite is considered a signature species for the mine. Superb, glassy luster serves to make the very appealing, classic, mottled-orange color really shine through. 2.3 cm on edge, and 3.5 cm tip-to-tip, the crystal displays 360-degrees around as it sits atop the matrix. If you examine the reflections off the faces, you will notice that the Scheelite is actually composed of multiple intergrown, stacked, and offset pseudo-octahedrons. Hold these translucent crystals up to the light, and you can see the shadows of one Scheelite inside another. Straight/flat corners, a classic variation in habit for Scheelite, from certain viewing angles can deceivingly appear worn, which they usually are not. One crystal edge and corner does have a bit of wear and a small ding, but they distract little from the clearly noteworthy aesthetics. The strong, blue-white fluorescence is both beautiful and classic. This is a stunning little miniature of a quality, color, and style that is highly representative for this important locality. From the collection of Kurt Hefendehl, a well-known German collector all over Europe with worldwide contacts to dealers and collectors. He started collecting seriously at the age of 14 and his great and varied worldwide collection reached over 6000 pieces. A superb miniature, valued $1000 or more.