Wulfenite (classic material)

Item Description

Wulfenite is known from hundreds upon hundreds of world localities, but the crystals from the famous Red Cloud Mine in Arizona are among the finest examples of the species ever seen. The superb color and quality of the best crystals from this historic mine are in the top echelon for Wulfenite. This piece is a gorgeous thumbnail from the well-known Red Gem Pocket which was found in 2003, and perhaps was the best great pocket to be found at the Red Cloud. This piece features a 1.1 cm, very sharp, highly lustrous, notably GEMMY, intense red-orange colored tabular crystal of Wulfenite, aesthetically perched on Calcite and oxidized matrix. There's actually a second smaller Wulfenite tucked behind the main crystal, but you need to turn the piece to see it. The lower section of the main Wulfenite is WATER-CLEAR, which is quite rare for Red Cloud Wulfenites. No damage I can see with the naked eye, and it's not easy to get your hands on such showy and fine quality thumbnails on matrix from this locality.
From the collection of Jack Halpern No. 3404. Jack was born May 18, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York, but has been a long-time resident of San Francisco. He assembled one of the great mineral collections in the world encompassing over 3,200 specimens with a specific emphasis on color, quality, and style/aesthetics, which is evident in every piece. He admired specimens of all sizes from thumbnails to large cabinets and the vast majority of them rank from fine to world-class in their quality.
Above all else, Jack is considered to be the greatest gentleman in the modern era of mineral collecting. He is beloved by all those who have met him, and he truly is one of the most iconic figures in the mineral world. We recently acquired Jack's collection, and the VAST majority of these pieces will be offered here in the auctions, as we feel that everyone deserves and equal opportunity at acquiring these important, well-documented and fine quality pieces for their collections. We are honored to have the opportunity to offer Jack's treasures to everyone on a regular basis in the auctions.
We encourage you to read our blog post at https://www.irocks.com/the-jack-halpern-collection or his profile on the Mineralogical Record website https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/halpernjack/ for more information