Spinel (fine crystals for the locality)

Item Description

Since the late 1990s, these beautiful Spinel crystals have been coming out of the marble deposits around the Lục Yên District in Vietnam. While we've seen good sized crystals from this area, they often can be somewhat crude and the colors can be a bit dark (sometimes with a "brownish" overtone), and not terribly gemmy. This particular specimen features some of the best crystals we've had to offer from the locality in the auctions, as they are not only notably sharp and well-formed, but the color is a gorgeous rich pinkish-red hue. The main crystal measures 2.2 cm across, and shows textbook octahedral faces, with pleasing and rare thin dodecahedral modifications on the edges. When backlit, there is good internal translucency to be seen with that fiery color inside. There is a second Spinel on the piece, and while there are some euhedral faces that can be seen, the back of the crystal is broken. The matrix is typical granular light grey Calcite / marble, but the piece has been trimmed so that it sits quite nicely on its own without the aid of a base or clay. These piece are much rarer on the market than they were years ago, and a showy matrix example like this is something that you're not likely to find anywhere, especially with such beautiful and colorful crystals. Valued $1,500.