Vesuvianite (very large crystal!)

Item Description

The lesser-known Vesuvianite occurrence near Portola, in Plumas County, California has produced some impressive crystals in the past, and this piece is certainly the finest example we've had to offer in terms of crystal size! The main crystal on this specimen is an outstanding, doubly-terminated, blocky, very sharp, lustrous, notably well-formed crystal measuring a whopping 9.0 cm at its widest dimension, associated with a few smaller secondary Vesuvianites on matrix. The main Vesuvianite crystal is in good shape but one edge has an interrupted growth where it grew against the pocket wall. It's not broken, it's simply incomplete due to the nature of how it formed. Please note that there is a small amount of hot glue attached to the back of the piece as well (presumably it was glued to a base before we received it). We've never had a specimen featuring a crystal of this magnitude and frankly high quality from this locality before, and you'd be hard-pressed to find another Vesuvianite from anywhere else that measures 9.0 cm with such smooth, sharp and lustrous faces. A truly impressive and remarkable example that would make a stellar collection in any California collection or minerals from the Western United States. It's hard to put a fair market value on a piece like this as we've never seen anything like it, but I honestly feel it's in the $4,000-$5,000 range as I said it's the best example we've ever had to offer from the locality. From the collection of Robert (Bob) Reynolds (#RR0118) Bob was a well-known fossil and mineral expert and former Curator of Earth Sciences at the San Bernardino County Museum in California. The rare phyllomanganate-chromate species Reynoldsite was named in his honor in 2011.