Spinel (var: "Pleonaste") with Diopside (ex Kay Robertson Collection)

Item Description

A classic from this historic locality near Mt Vesuvius featuring small, very sharp, highly lustrous, jet black crystals of the iron-rich variety of Spinel called Pleonaste. The crystals are associated with small, gemmy to translucent greenish crystals of Diopside (or some other Pyroxene species). Very hard to find on the market, and if you collect minerals of the Somma-Vesuvius Complex, don't miss out on this one. Ex Kay Robertson Collection (#10835). Kay is a prominent California collector, who specialized in European classics (see the article in the March-April, 2007 Mineralogical Record and the 50+ page article in the German Magazine "Mineralien Welt" November-December 2017).