Spinel

Item Description

A wonderful textbook octahedral crystal of Spinel from Pein-Pyit with smooth, well-formed faces. The edges are rather sharp, which is significant, as they can be somewhat rounded when they reach this size. On the surface the crystal is virtually black, but with strong backlighting you can see a bit of translucency with a deep fiery red color. The piece is nearly a complete "floater", but there is a tiny point of contact on the bottom. Still an excellent crystal from the standpoint of morphology. Specimen weight is 5.5 grams. From the collection of Bill ("Burma Bill") Larson of Fallbrook, California. Bill is a well-known gem and mineral dealer as well as a miner and collector. Bill traveled the world for decades in search of fine gems and minerals, and was directly involved in the in-person acquisition and importation of superb specimens and stones from Myanmar (Burma). You can read his biography at https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/larsonwilliam-f/