Sold specimen
Gold - sold
Eagle's Nest Mine, Sage Hill, Michigan Bluff District, Placer Co., California, USA
Size: 2.4 x 1.5 x 1.0 cm
Bright yellow gold sculpture on white matrix (quartz or marble).
Fluorite - sold
Rehrlköpfl, Vorderkrimml, Krimml, Krimmler Ache valley, Hohe Tauern, Salzburg, Austria
Size: 16.5 x 11 x 5.4 cm
Impressive cabinet-size specimen from the renowned Rehrlköpfl fluorite mine. A well-proportioned piece of limestone matrix fully covered by fluorite cubes of up to 1 cm edge length. The fluorites exhibit the typical blue-greenish color and stepped surface pattern. No significant damage to report, the uncoated spot on the left-hand side seems to have natural origin since the flanks of the fluorites next to it have the same carbonatic coating which is also present on the backside of the specimen.
Gold - sold
Size: 1.4 × 1 × 0.2 cm
Weight: 1.11 g
Little gold tree from the famous Eagle's Nest Mine, showy all around.
Quartz Scepter - sold
Size: 3 × 2.9 × 2.2 cm
Highly lustrous rock crystal scepter with windows. There is an inconspicuous contact at the shoulder of the base crystal, the scepter head is free of significant damage.
Phantom Quartz - sold
Großer Hexenkopf, Kleinitz Alp, Timmelbach valley, Prägraten, Virgen valley, East Tyrol, Tyrol, Austria
Size: 7.1 x 5.3 x 4.0 cm
Rock crystal group from the heart of the Austrian national park "Hohe Tauern". The main crystal exhibits dark green phantoms, both below the tip and inside the prism body. The crystals show good luster and distinct striations. There is a contact at the backside of the main crystals rhomb zone, and you will find some edge wear. The bottom of the specimen was sawed.
Quartz, Calcite & Chalcopyrite - sold
Cavnic Mine, Cavnic, Romania
Size: 9.1 × 8.3 × 6.8 cm
Group of quartz crystals partially encrusted with calcites on a piece of lead/zinc rich ore with some small chalcopyrites. The quartz crystals exhibit stepped growth pattern and good luster. There are two crystals on the backside with ruptures.
Sparkling lawn of short-prismatic rock crystals partially covered by cream-yellow calcite. The calcite "ball" measures up to 32 mm. No significant damage.
Group of dark smoky quartz crystals on leached granite matrix. The quality of the crystals is just gorgeous even for Switzerland: great transparency, free of internal cracks or inclusions and mirror luster. In the first image you can look right through the main crystal to the small side crystals behind and also see an mirror image of the crystals laying in the front. The main crystal measures ca. 3 cm. There are little chips at the tips of several crystals including the main one, one small crystal at the boundary has a contact at the base.
Smoky Quartz Gwindel - sold
Bielig Valley, Goms, Wallis, Switzerland
Size: 8.3 × 3.6 × 3.6 cm
Dark smoky quartz gwindel with side crystals attached to granite matrix. The gwindel has a dull surface but its interior is clear and free of cracks. It measures ca. 5 cm in width. There are some contacts on the specimen and the bottom is broken, furthermore I had to fix it with two drops of Loctite at the bottom since it began to become a little loose.
Pink Fluorite - sold
Wasenhorn, Bielig Valley, Goms, Wallis, Switzerland
Size: 3.2 x 2.9 x 2.1 cm
Pink fluorite on matrix from a rather uncommon Swiss locale. The fluorite has an edge length of ca. 10 mm. It shows a very multifaceted growth pattern, look like built up by dozens of small octahedra. There is some minor edge wear.
A bipyramidal anatase of ca. 2 mm size sits atop the prism face of a limonite colored rock crystal. The rock crystal exhibits a partially clear tip and several flakes of chlorite/mica inclusions. There is a minuscule chip at the termination of the main rock crystal, otherwise no significant damage.
Very typical exemplar from the amphibolite schist formations of Auernig Mountain. Doubly terminated floater crystal with interesting color shades: the rhombohedral tips and the rear prism faces appear as milky quartz while the main prism body exhibits grey, slightly turquois color and is translucent when hold in front of the sun. A second generation of small quartz crystals is grown on one side. No significant damage except for a rehealed contact at the backside of one tip.
Streaky schorl crystal with frayed termination attached to a rock crystal. The schorl measures ca. 35 mm in length. The bottom of the specimen is broken and there is a small chip at the tip of the quartz.
Dioptase - sold
Altyn-Tyube Deposit, Karaganda Oblast, Kazakhstan
Size: 9.3 × 7.7 × 4.5 cm
Dioptase crystals up to 9 mm size on quartz and matrix, from the type locality. The crystals at the boundary are abraded.
Phantom Quartz - sold
Size: 7.3 × 5.4 × 3.8 cm
Pair of rock crystals with green phantoms in the center of their prism bodies. The right-hand crystal has a contact at the tip, and there is some slight edge wear.
Pink fluorite of 11 mm height right on top of a leached granite matrix. The fluorite exhibits a multifaceted surface structure from octahedral sub-entities, which is the typical habitus for the locale. No significant damage.
Hematite, Rutile, Schorl, Calcite - sold
Size: 2.7 × 1.9 × 1.3 cm
Rich alpine paragenesis thumbnail. Cluster of lustrous hematite blades carrying epitaxial rutiles with calcite scalenohedra on a dense aggregate of schorl needles. The hematite has a rupture along the top-left side.
Magnetite - sold
Size: 3.2 × 2.4 × 0.8 cm
Lustrous magnetite octahedron of 5 mm height on a bed of small adularia and mica crystals on gneiss matrix. No significant damage.
Rather huge exemplar of rare Swiss titanite, developed as a twinned floater with some mini side crystals. One termination is partially etched and coated with chlorite (the one facing upwards in the images), the bottom tip is sharp and in basically pristine condition (not visible in the images because of the glue for mounting which I cropped during digital image processing). The crystal exhibits a pale green color with some reddish accents and is translucent where not coated with chlorite. No significant damage.
Quartz, Chalcopyrite, Calcite - sold
Size: 7.7 × 6.2 × 3.7 cm
Group of clear rock crystals partially coated by yellowish calcites on a sheet of chalcopyrites. Most of the mini rock crystals around the main group are broken.
Smoky Quartz - sold
Fiesch Glacier area, Fiesch, Goms, Wallis, Switzerland
Size: 56 x 46 x 39 mm
Group of clear and lustrous smoky quartz crystals on leached granite matrix. Some greenish chlorite dust is scattered over the rhomb faces. One of the main crystals (the one pointing to the left in the images) has a contact at the top of the prism face facing upwards.
Anatase - sold
Gorb, Lärcheltini area, Binn valley, Wallis, Switzerland
Size: 10 x 9 x 5 mm
Brown-yellow anatase aggregate developed as a floater. There are some signs of healed cleavage/contacts or growth inhibitions.
Fluorite, Baryte and Quartz - sold
Berbes, Berbes Mining area, Ribadesella, Asturias, Spain
Size: 101 x 62 x 47 mm
Transparent, light purple fluorite cuboids of up to 8 mm edge length scattered on a sparkling lawn of rock crystals with tabular baryte crystals (the latter are partially damaged).
Amethyst Scepter - sold
Blattjengrat, Mätti Valley, Binn Valley, Wallis, Switzerland
Size: 55 x 27 x 22 mm
Amethyst scepter from a classic Swiss locale. The scepter head has several contacts and there is some white, dusty coating all over the piece - for sure not a stunning beauty, but still a definite exemplar of rare Swiss amethyst.
Group of highly lustrous amethyst crystals developed doubly terminated and as scepters on a bed of white calcites. Some clear calcite crystals are scattered over the amethysts like dewdrops. No significant damage.
Smoky Quartz Gwindel with Adularia - sold
Val Giuv, Tujetsch, Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
Size: 40 x 30 x 25 mm
Smoky quartz gwindel of intense colour accompanied by small smokies and adularia crystals. There is a little chlorite dust on some faces, but the interior of the gwindel is very clear and basically free of cracks. The gwindel is fully crystallized, also at the bottom. It is growm in transitional habitus, i.e forming a skewed angle with the former matrix from where it detached (the face now covered with adularia).
Titanite on Quartz - sold
Auernig, Mallnitz, Ankogel group, Hohe Tauern, Kärnten, Austria
Size: 62 x 15 x 15 mm
Strongly etched quartz crystal carrying a twinned titanite of 12 mm length. The entire specimen is coated with a thick layer of chlorite adding distinct alpine look.
Smoky Quartz Gwindel - sold
Wildenkogel, Innergschlöß, Tauerntal, Osttirol, Austria
Size: 35 x 32 x 12 mm
Little treasure from Innergschlöß: a small, but highly lustrous and water-clear gwindel with a slight smoky hue. Would be a marginal specimen if from a Swiss locale, but is worth a look as an Austrian rarity. Apart from some minor edge wear, the specimen is free of any fresh damage, the ruptures at both the bottom and at one side are fully recrystallized. Old find of the renowned collector Mühlburger Georg.
Quartz with Calcite - sold
Großer Hexenkopf, Kleinitzalpe, Timmeltal, Prägraten, Virgental, Osttirol, Austria
Size: 64 x 60 x 39 mm
A doubly terminated, 60 mm long rock crystal with some associated white-reddish calcites on a piece of schist matrix. The rhomb faces of the rock crystal show turquois color from chlorite inclusions, which is very characteristic for the locale. No significant damage.
Anatase - sold
Scherbadung, Kriegalptal, Binntal, Wallis, Switzerland
Size: 58 x 41 x 36 mm
Yellow, translucent anatase with black tips on contrasting white gneiss matrix with small mica crystals. The anatase measures 4 mm tip-to-tip.