Spherical Amethyst (''grapes'')

Item Description

A very eye-catching display piece of what is commonly called "Grape Agate" from Sulawesi, Indonesia. These pieces are actually not Agate at all, as they are micro-crystallized on the surface, so this is not a cryptocrystalline variety of Quartz, this is truly purple crystallized Quartz = Amethyst. The pieces were analyzed by Dr. George Rossman at CalTech and determined to be Amethyst due to the microcrystallization. More info on page 101-102 of the Journal of Gemmology https://gem-a.com/jog-volume-36-issue-2 . As you can see, these specimens got their nickname due to the fact that they are purple and genuinely resemble bunches of grapes. Very little of this seems to be out there now, and perhaps it is drying up. If you missed out on these when they first came out, this is a great opportunity to pick up a really attractive specimen for a great piece. This piece is filled with lovely, translucent, semi-resinous "balls" or spheroids measuring up to about 4 mm which are tightly intergrown and are visible literally on every side of the specimen. I love the gentle sparkling drusy luster on this one. There is a lot of Quartz in the world, but these pieces are truly unique and would make a superb addition to any Quartz suite.