Spherical Amethyst (''Grape'' Quartz)

Item Description

These unique Quartz specimens starting showing up on the market during the latter half of 2016. Dealers and online enthusiasts started labeling them with a variety of monikers such as "Chalcedony", "Agate", Quartz and Amethyst. I'm sure you've seen people selling them as either "Grape Agate" or "Grape Chalcedony" due to the purple color and the fact that they have formed in groups that look like bunches of grapes. Frankly, there could easily be 100 terms to describe cryptocrystalline / drusy / massive uncrystallized Quartz, so you see a lot of names for this kind of material when a new discovery is made. It should be noted that these are in fact AMETHYST because they do show tiny crystallized faces upon close inspection, so it's not massive or cryptocrystalline at the micro level. This piece is filled with beautiful botryoidal, semi-resinous, translucent "balls" or oblong shaped spheroids measuring to about 4 mm with a gorgeous purple color that ranges into more of a muted grey hue in spots. Keep in mind that purple is not a common color for mineral specimens. If you take away Amethyst, suddenly there are only a few species that form in collector quality, well-crystallized examples (e.g., Spinel, Scapolite, Spodumene, Zoisite). The piece does live up to its nickname as it does resemble a bunch of grapes. The piece is actually well crystallized all around and looks good from several angles. Great shape overall, and a wonderful opportunity to pick up a piece of this exciting new and unique material. It should be noted that with a lot of new discoveries, it’s hard to say how much more will be available, and in what quality. Often the best material tends to find its way to the market first, and is typically the least expensive. These pieces do seem to have dried up quickly on the market.