Spessartine Garnet (excellent size and color!)

Item Description

There is a general rule for Garnet crystals, regardless of the locality, that the smaller crystals have more of the gem aspects and are typically better color, while the larger crystals are often more of the side of being dark and opaque. The discovery of these outstanding Spessartines from Nani Hill in Tanzania several years ago broke the rules as it were, and the best examples by and large were BOTH large and colorful, with some of the best orange color you'll see, even in crystals in this size. Keep in mind that most Garnet crystals are typically not much more than 1 cm (2 cm is a good sized Garnet), but the big crystals from this locality are bigger than most you'll see from any other world locality. This piece is a very good sized, sharp, well-formed, complete trapezohedral crystal that weighs 145.5 grams. I consider it to be a pretty impressive piece from this limited find. It has intense color, and when backlit just glows with a fiery orange hue internally. The color is due to manganese content, as the more iron-rich Spessartines will be red. The gemminess is fairly decent, honestly better than you'd expect for the size. The strength of the color is about as good as anything you'll see from this discovery, especially considering the crystal measures over 2 INCHES at its longest dimension. You almost never see crystals of Garnet exceeding 2 inches in from anywhere, but a crystal of this size, color and quality is a big deal. The piece is crystallized on all sides, but it does have a decent sized contact on the back where it was likely detached from either the pocket wall or another Spessartine crystal. Minor greenish-silver colored blades of Muscovite Mica make for a nice touch These specimens are completely mined out, we'll probably never see them again, and if you missed out on them when they first hit the market in the early 2000s, now is a great chance to get a really good quality piece for a great price. We had this one at $2,000 in our inventory.