Sphalerite (gemmy crystals) on Quartz

Item Description

Some of the finest, gemmy crystallized Sphalerite specimens in the modern era of mineral colleting are those from the Shuikoushan Ore Field in China. The beautiful crystals on these specimens exhibit some of the most highly lustrous, well-formed crystals with intense glowing warm hues, which that instantly made them exceptionally popular when they started making their way to the market in the early 2000s. Today they are much harder to find on the market, and it seems that they have dried up in recent years. This is a beautiful hefty cabinet display specimen featuring superb, sharp, lustrous, very gemmy complex Sphalerite crystals and crystal groups sitting on a layer of white sugary Quartz sitting on matrix. The Sphalerites are gorgeous in person and explode with rich orange color when backlit. Overall, the piece is in good condition as most all of the major of the Sphalerite groups are undamaged, but there are damaged spots, so the piece is not completely pristine. The largest Sphalerite group measures 1.4 cm across. A slight amount of sugary Quartz is partially coating some of the Sphalerite for a nice contrast and touch. This is a lovely specimen of this high quality material that didn't get enough attention when they were available, but are now sought after by collectors for their excellent color, quality and gemminess of the Sphalerites.