superb Spinel-twinned Galena w/ Calcite (Hefendehl Coll.)

Item Description

A striking, dense intergrown cluster of silver-metallic and spinel-twinned Galena crystals from the famous Nikolaevskiy MIne at Dalnegorsk - this is one of the GREAT CLASSICS of the 1980s-1990s Russian mineral mining. The piece is simply gorgeous, so please watch the video, as flat photos cannot capture the mirrorlike reflections. The back is accented with Calcite crystals, a typical accessory. The mines at Dalnegorsk are one of the world's great mineral localites, producing world-class Sulfides, Fluorite, Calcite, Ilvaite, Datolite and other species. Dalnegork specimens were shocking to collectors in the late 1980s, when they first came to Western markets. Fine specimens, such as this came out in the 1980s and 1990s and are rare on the market today. See the 2001 Mineralogical Record article in Vol. 32, No.1. Ex Hefendehl Collection. Kurt Hefendehl was a most well-known collector in the mineral world all over Europe with worldwide contacts to dealers and collectors. He started seriously collecting in the age of 14 and his great and various worldwide collection reached a number of over 6000 pieces. He was incredibly mineralogically active, until shortly before his passing in 2020 in the age of 82 years. His collection had, considering that high number of pieces, an unusual high quality standard from most worldwide localities. He particularly specialized in all classics; and the minerals of the Black Forest where he spent many visits collecting (that and the Germany subcollection went to his good friend Wolfgang Wendel. The Italian suite went to Marini). We have the rest to offer over the next 2-3 years, through our platforms. We have lost a great friend and connoisseur, a true mineral collector of the Golden Age. A very fine, aesthetic and sculptural example of this Galena varietal from Dalnegorsk. Superb specimen, valued, $2500-plus