Spessartine on Smoky Quartz with Opal-AN

Item Description

These beautiful and iconic pieces are some of the most distinctive and instantly recognizable Spessartines from any locality in the modern era of mineral collecting. They will go down as some of the most well-known mineral specimens from any Chinese locality. This attractive small cabinet specimen hosts superb, sharp, gemmy, lustrous, rich orange-red colored crystals of Spessartine Garnet measuring up to 7 mm which are enveloping a solitary, gemmy, sharp, lustrous prismatic, hexagonal Smoky Quartz crystal in an almost "halo"-like formation. If you look on the back, the piece has a light coating of white Opal-AN (formerly Hyalite Opal), which glows a bright green hue under SW UV light. The Garnets show excellent trapezohedral faces, and they are larger than average for the locality. The piece is in good condition, but there are a few nicks near the termination. The piece is technically doubly-terminated as the base of the Quartz is re-crystallized ("re-healed"), where it detached from the pocket wall and grew tiny little faces all over. 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 on matrix from any locality in the world, especially with attractive associated species. I would put a value of $1,500-$2,000 on this one for the size, quality and color of the Garnets, plus the fact that they grew so beautifully around the Quartz crystal.