Willemite ex. Dr. Gary Hansen coll

Item Description

Tsumeb is a locality that has a super premium in our world, for its incredible wealth of specimens. Among the great things it produced, once upon a time, were these beautiful translucent, botryoidal blue willemites, though they are very rare and hard to obtain today. I am told that most came out in the 1970s, with some earlier. This label from Dr. Gary Hansen dates to prior to 1984 when he retired as a mineral dealer. He pulled this piece from his stock and kept it in his personal collection, which I bought in 2004 - so he held this at least 20 years. Note that, for the mineral market and economy of the time, circa 1984, this was a VERY robust price for a specimen of any kind, indicating a certain stature and that he valued it highly. Today, I think it is safe to say this could easily be seen at a show for $2000-2500. This particular specimen is intriguing because it is the only one of them I have seen with malachite association. The gemmy, botryoidal, willemite is unique and beautiful, and comes in this style only from Tsumeb.