AMETHYST SMOKEY QUARTZ ON CALCITE WITH LEPIDOCROCITE INCLUSIONS. ...

Description

AMETHYST SMOKEY QUARTZ ON CALCITE WITH LEPIDOCROCITE INCLUSIONS
Goboboseb Mountains, Brandberg Area, Erongo Region, Namibia
Tafelkop; loosely "Table Mountain" in Afrikaans, is the name of a place so dry, remote and forbidding that building materials and even water must be laboriously brought in over rocky desert tracks. That is the birthplace of this shining "jewel-on-the-rocks". The few 'locals', who actively mine such things there, break up the sun scorched, black volcanic rock with hand hammers and crude chisels, looking for the occasional cavity. Larger and more complicated equipment is expensive and difficult to maintain in this part of the world, and over enthusiastic use can destroy or damage the specimens on which their economic lives depend, which is why such equipment is rarely seen. Even with careful attention to the extraction process, a large percentage of the Quartz crystals encountered there, leave without their original matrix: the rock they were originally formed upon.

This classic matrix example features a large, pristine Quartz prism sporting brilliant luster and several different colors, that range from colorless at the base and rapidly shift to a deep purple tint that persists for another inch or so where 'phantom zones' of dark smoky brown start to appear - this can best be seen by viewing the crystal from the side. In the final half-inch or so, the crystal turns limpidly colorless, allowing the many Lepidocrocite inclusions to be clearly seen. These oriented, needle-like inclusions vary in color from black in the lower areas to silver and raspberry-red near the termination. Several of the smaller 'satellite' Quartz crystals, nearer to the base, also possess these inclusions. In addition to the inclusions there are multiple negative crystals: hollow places inside the main Quartz that are bounded by internal crystal faces that show up in the central portion. These appear silvery in reflected light and can be fairly sizable. As if this wasn't enough, there is a fair amount of anhedral Calcite mixed in with the small Quartz crystals scattered around the base of the big one. In excellent condition, the main prism measures 4 1/8 tall (10.5 cm) and is approximately 1½ inches (3.8 cm) across. The overall measurements are: 5 x 4 x 4½ inches (12.7 x 10.2 x 11.4 cm) and there is a custom labeled base.

Provenance: ex. Stuart Wilensky Collection
ex. Daniel J. Trinchillo Jr. Collection

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