Smoky Quartz with Spessartine Garnet and Muscovite

Item Description

These impressive specimens from Tongbei are some of the most eye-catching and highly displayable minerals to come out of any discovery in China. Here we have an incredibly aesthetic and three-dimensional display specimen featuring several sharp, lustrous, gemmy, rich "Morion" Smoky Quartz crystals measuring up to 7.3 cm long which are dramatically flaring off a matrix of cream colored Microcline. The Smokies are dotted with dozens of small, sharp, lustrous, gemmy, bright orange colored trapezohedral crystals of Spessartine Garnet which spill over onto the matrix along with a bit of greenish bladed Muscovite. The piece is in excellent condition, with no major damage, and if you follow the Smoky Quartz crystal through the back of the piece you will see that they are actually terminated or at least re-crystallized ("re-healed"), so the piece is crystallized all the way around. I love the fact that the Garnets are brilliant, sharp and smooth - no pitting or dull faces anywhere. Garnet is a well known mineral, but you have to keep in mind that it's quite rare to find brilliant orange Spessartines from any locality in the world, let alone on good sized Quartz crystals like this. One of the best and most aesthetic specimens of this material that we've offered in the auctions. Valued at $4,500.