Spinel with Geikielite and Apatite (ex Franceso Bedogne Collection)

Item Description

A sharp, well-formed, translucent, deep purplish colored 7 mm octahedron of Spinel sits beautiful on the underlying matrix. According to the label, the small black spot on the specimen is Geikielite, and the whitish crystals are Apatite. The best aspect of the specimen is the fact that the crystal is ON MATRIX, as virtually all of the crystals I've seen from Morogoro are loose singles. A great opportunity to pick up a rarely seen matrix gem crystal specimen from this well known gem producing region. From the worldwide collection of famed Italian mineral collector, field collector and author, Francesco Bedogne of Sondrio, Italy (Collection #1953), and accompanied by a label from Al McGuinness. Bedogne wrote dozens of articles and several books about the mineralogy of Italian Alpine localities such as Val Bregaglia, Val Masino, Val Codera, Val Spluga, Valtellina and the famous Val Malenco. He was also the founder of the Valtellinese Mineralogical Institute.