Vesuvianite (chromium-bearing)

Item Description

The large Jeffrey Mine in Quebec is one of the most well-known Canadian localities. This gigantic open pit produced some of the most iconic and colorful Vesuvianite crystals from any world locality. There were literally thousands of pieces of Vesuvianite that came out of this famous asbestos pit, and the colors range from purple to yellow to green. This piece is largely the classic yellow-green hue, but there are a few small patches featuring intense green color crystals, which is caused due to the presence of chromium, giving these pieces the nickname "Chrome-Vesuvianite". This piece is an eye-catching small cabinet that is filled with a coverage of sharp, highly lustrous, gemmy, prismatic crystals of Vesuvianite with no matrix. The largest crystal measures 1.4 cm long. Most of the crystals are undamaged, though there are some contacted spots here and there. these pieces have disappeared from the market now that the Jeffrey Mine is closed, which is a real shame as they are incredibly eye-catching and distinctive. If you missed out on these when they were coming out of the ground, don't pass this one up, as the bi-color effect along with the size and quality make this a very desirable example of this classic material. From the collection of Kurt Hefendehl (#43 C), a well-known German collector all over Europe with worldwide contacts to dealers and collectors. He started collecting seriously at the age of 14 and his great and varied worldwide collection reached over 6000 pieces. He was very active mineralogically until shortly before his passing in 2020 at the age of 82. Considering his collection had a large number of pieces, it still had an unusually high standard of quality from most worldwide localities. He particularly specialized in all classics as well as minerals of the Black Forest, where he spent much time collecting. His Black Forest and German subcollections went to his good friend Wolfgang Wendel. WWe at The Arkenstone have the privilege of offering the remainder of this great worldwide collection over the coming months and years through our various platforms.