Silicon Carbide (man-made)

Item Description

Stunning psychedelic iridescent play of colors on this amazing, sharply crystallized, man-made, silicon carbide small cabinet specimen. The piece has surreal, sharp, en echelon, stepped-growth, hexagonal crystals dramatically accented with dizzying, complex hoppered faces. Silicon carbide, also known as Carborundum, is a hard compound with many uses. It was first used as an abrasive, then with additional uses as a semiconductor, forming very hard ceramics, large single crystals that are cut into gems known as synthetic moissanite and other uses (Wikipedia). This particular specimen is from General Abrasives Research & Development in Niagara Falls, New York. From the collection of well-known Jack Halpern of San Francisco, No. 4013, as featured in the Mineralogical Record, March 2005. We recently obtained the remainder of his collection. Jack kept a row of beautiful synthetic and man-made mineral specimens on a top shelf in his mineral room, because he found them beautiful in their own regard, and also educational. An utterly gorgeous and fascinating man-made specimen.