Spessartine with Muscovite on Microcline

Item Description

Excellent, razor-sharp, highly lustrous, intense red colored trapezohedral crystals of Spessartine Garnet measuring up to 1.2 cm across, are sitting on a bed of silvery-beige bladed Muscovite crystals, which have overgrown white blocky Microcline Feldspar, with a bit of accenting black Schorl on the back. The Spessartines from Shengus are some of the finest examples of the species from any locality in the last 30+ years. Their color is due to a higher ratio of iron content, as opposed to manganese, which would cause them to be more orange in hue like those from Nigeria or Tanzania. No major damage, only a few minor areas of roughness, and several of the Spessartines are quite gemmy when backlit.
From the collection of Jack Halpern No. 2444. Jack was born May 18, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York, but has been a long-time resident of San Francisco. He assembled one of the great mineral collections in the world encompassing over 3,200 specimens with a specific emphasis on color, quality, and style/aesthetics, which is evident in every piece. He admired specimens of all sizes from thumbnails to large cabinets and the vast majority of them rank from fine to world-class in their quality.
Above all else, Jack is considered to be the greatest gentleman in the modern era of mineral collecting. He is beloved by all those who have met him, and he truly is one of the most iconic figures in the mineral world. We recently acquired Jack's collection, and the VAST majority of these pieces will be offered here in the auctions, as we feel that everyone deserves and equal opportunity at acquiring these important, well-documented and fine quality pieces for their collections. We are honored to have the opportunity to offer Jack's treasures to everyone on a regular basis in the auctions.
We encourage you to read our blog post at https://www.irocks.com/the-jack-halpern-collection or his profile on the Mineralogical Record website https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/halpernjack/ for more information