Spessartine Garnet on Doubly-terminated Smoky Quartz (ex Dr. Stephen Smale Collection)

Item Description

These Spessartines are some of the most attractive and highly displayable specimens to come out of China. This particular piece features rather lustrous, gemmy, bright orange color dodecahedra (some of which have trapezohedral modifications) measuring up to 3 mm sitting on a large, very sharp, lustrous, gemmy doubly-terminated, richly colored Smoky Quartz crystal group. The color in the Spessartine crystals is very attractive, and they are not at all dull or pitted. This material is becoming less and less available on the market, and keep in mind that there are only a few worldwide localities that produce this color of Spessartine in fine specimens. Gem orange Spessartine specimens are NOT easy to find these days from any locality. A few of the Spessartines are contacted, but the vast majority of them are pristine. The piece is nearly a complete "floater", but it does have a slight point of attachment on the back edge. It's still in superb shape overall in terms of luster, gemminess and crystal quality. Valued at $1,500. Ex Dr. Steven Smale Collection. Along with amassing one of the finest private mineral collections in the world, Steve is a renowned mathematician. His accomplishments include being awarded the Fields Medal in 1966 along with being the awarded the Wolf Prize in mathematics in 2007. You can read Steve's bio on the Mineralogical Record website ( https://mineralogicalrecord.com/labels.asp?colid=671&page=1 ) or on Wikipedia.