Spessartine (classic California) Bill Larson Coll.

Item Description

Spessartine garnets from the famous Little Three Mine are among the most desirable and hard to get of all species from the numerous well-known pegmatites of San Diego County. This special single crystal thumbnail rarity has the classic rich orange interior, with a RARE gemmy cherry-red overgrowth. Part of the front and most of the back is contacted, but this remains an exceptional and rare two-toned, cherry-red and orange spessartine from the mine. It is highly unusual in color for the locality, where they are normally more orange. This beauty dates to the Louis Spalding collecting era of the 1970s and 80s. The Little Three and Hercules dikes (adjacent claims - they both produced spessartine) were claimed in 1903 and went idle in about 1912. Louis Spalding, Sr. acquired the Little Three Mine in 1951. The Ramona District is uniqued to the region in producing major amounts of gem-grade and specimen-grade topaz and spessartine. See the 2002 Mineralogical Record article in Vol. 33, No. 5. Ex Bill Larson San Diego County Pegmatite Collection and long on display at his Pala International shop in Fallbrook. A rare two-color spessartine from the Little Three.