Topaz (classic material)

Item Description

An impressive large single crystal of the classic, natural blue Topaz crystals from the Tarryall Mountains of Colorado. Typically these crystals are much smaller, only a few cm, but this one is a robust 7 cm example weighing in at 416 grams. Unfortunately the crystal is not fully-terminated, and it's contacted on one edge on the back, but it is does show several smooth, euhedral, glassy faces. Internally the crystal is translucent, not full gem quality, but it certainly passes light. It is still one of the largest individual crystals of Topaz we've ever seen from the Tarryalls. The piece was acquired from Dick Grier by way of Larry Conklin and originally was in Joe Cilen's collection
Ex George Loud Collection No. 397 CO.1; 8773. George (born August 16, 1942) is a well-known mineral collector from Washington, DC and South Carolina respectively, and was a patent lawyer by trade for over 50 years. He assembled one of the great mineral collections in the U.S., comprising worldwide specimens, and in later years he sold the worldwide specimens to focus on minerals of the United States, specifically locality suites with an emphasis on amazing representation of species while still maintaining fine quality. The specimens remarkably range from micros to all the way up to large cabinets in size. We recently acquired most of his impressive 9000+ piece collection, and the VAST majority of these pieces will be offered here in the auctions, as we feel that everyone deserves and equal opportunity at acquiring these important, well-documented and fine quality specimens for their collections.
See: https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/george-loud for more information