Spodumene var: Kunzite

Item Description

There are only a few places in the world that produce well-formed gem quality Kunzites of any quantity outside of Brazil (namely Afghanistan or San Diego County, California), and pieces like this seem to be slowly dwindling on the market. Kunzite is the varietal name for pink/purple gemmy Spodumene crystals, named in honor of mineralogist George Kunz. This piece is a good quality, fairly thick, gemmy, light pink and golden colored prismatic crystal, free of matrix. There is a mixture of light pink and golden hues internally, and like most Spodumene crystals, this piece shows a more intense coloring when viewed down the "c" axis, due to the pleochroism of Spodumene. The piece is largely in good shape, though there is a contact on the side of the termination, so it's not completely pristine. Overall, a good representative Kunzite from this prolific gem-crystal-producing state in Brazil. Specimen weight is 171.6 grams.
From the collection of Vasco Trancoso, a medical doctor and prominent mineral collector from near Lisbon, Portugal (https://www.mindat.org/user-11954.html). He assembled his mineral collection over the course of 60 years, and built a fine worldwide display collection that we recently purchased. This piece is pictured on mindat.org at https://www.mindat.org/photo-187851.html