Topaz on Smoky Quartz

Item Description

A beautiful and showy miniature display specimen of this classic material from the famed Little Three Mine. This piece hosts a sharp, well-formed, lustrous, gemmy, silvery-white colored Topaz crystal measuring 1.1 cm, aesthetically flaring off of notably compressed, sharp, lustrous Smoky Quartz crystal. The back of the piece is re-crystallized ("re-healed", so it's very close to being a complete "floater". The Topaz crystals from this mine are some of the best examples of species from any locality in San Diego County, but it's notably RARE to find them on Quartz like this, especially in such showy examples. This piece was mined circa 1960s. From the collection of Colorado mining legend, Dave Bergman. Dave is now retired, but among other things, he was the foreman and primary person in charge of recovering specimens at the famous Sweet Home Mine near Alma, Colorado during the late 1970s. He is also the maternal grandfather of Brian Kosnar. See Dave's photo mining at the Sweet Home on page 58 of Peter Bancroft's book "Gem and Crystal Treasures".