Vesuvianite - rare color, circa 1980s, ex Charlie Key

Item Description

Manganoan, purple-colored vesuvianite ONLY comes from here and these are classics of the 1980s, almost never seen in this size today. This rare lavender color of Vesuvianite was known in good quality from only several pockets in this old asbestos mine. This fine, sparkling miniature consists of of one main, prismatic, doubly terminated crystal measuring nearly 5 cm in length along with some smaller sidecar crystals that are somewhat obscured by a druse of sparkling, randomly oriented, 1 to 3 mm crystals. The overall color of the piece is a pale lavender and the tips of the larger crystals are gemmy with a very pale greenish tint. It looks good on the backside too where you can see a myriad of Vesuvianite crystals in parallel growth and there are also some distinct pale greenish crystals on this side. Crystals on both sides have off-the-chart luster! There is no obvious point of attachment, so this scintillating piece qualifies as a floater! These prismatic crystals have excellent luster and very good, gemmy terminations. This tight and aesthetic cluster from the world-famous Jeffrey Mine in Canada is an attractive miniature for this species. This is from the notable, large and comprehensive Jeffrey Mine suite of the famous Charlie Key collection. This was one of the last suites he sold, as it was near and dear to his heart, perhaps 5 years ago.