Scheelite (good sized crystal) (flourescent)

Item Description

There are several Chinese localities that have produced excellent Scheelite crystals over the years, and some of the first examples to hit the market in the early 2000s are the seldom seen specimens from the Xianghualing Mine, which is best known for its superb Fluorite and Calcite specimens. This piece was a very early entry in Kurt's Chinese collection, so it obviously was one of the first pieces he bought from China. This showy small cabinet specimen hosts a good sized, sharp, well-formed, pseudo-octahedral crystal of dark silvery-grey Scheelite measuring 3.6 cm, on matrix. When backlit, the crystal shows a bit of internal translucency, with a somewhat colorless hue internally in areas. The termination unfortunately has a small nick, so it's not completely undamaged, but it's larger than most other Scheelites from other world localities. It's also a rare matrix specimen, as most of the crystals we've offered over the years are loose singles, free of matrix. Good blue fluorescence under SW UV light.
From the collection of Kurt Hefendehl (#7 C), 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. He was very active mineralogically until shortly before his passing in 2020 at the age of 82. Considering his collection had a large number of pieces, it still had an unusually high standard of quality from most worldwide localities. He particularly specialized in all classics as well as minerals of the Black Forest, where he spent much time collecting. His Black Forest and German subcollections went to his good friend Wolfgang Wendel. We at The Arkenstone have the privilege of offering the remainder of this great worldwide collection over the coming months and years through our various platforms.