This sphere began as a very clear quartz crystal in Brazil, mined in the 1930's or 40's or earlier. The Canadian government bought the rough and stockpiled it for the WW2 war effort. The optical Quartz was used as lens in things like gun sites. In the 1980's Frank Melanson of Hawthorneden bought the whole lot of it and sent the rough to Idar Oberstein, Germany to be cut into precise spheres and eggs. I remember coming across a stash of these at Frank's house when we went about purchasing his entire inventory. At first we thought 'great, more quartz spheres,' but when I held it up and looked at my dad he was pictured perfectly upside down! 

This is an optical Quartz sphere, meaning there are NO inclusions so the distortion to light entering the sphere is scene with total precision and clarity. In the second picture, the bill is rightside up, so Franklin is upside down inside the sphere. Make note of the fact that in the third pic, the the bill is upside down (while Franklin is right side up inside the sphere. This is fun to have to show to kids and other adults the nature of a lens.  

The Hawthorneden stock had about 20,000 stone spheres and eggs in it. Over the years we have been hoarding these optical spheres while liquidating all the others. This one was, by the way priced at $120 back in the late eighties when they first got them back from the German factories. It weighs 91 grams, and is over 1 1/2 inches in diameter.

MORGANITE1 - Beryl Var. Morganite
$ 750.00 SOLD NET
Virgem de Lapa, Minas Gerais, Brazil
small cabinet - 8.5 x 4.2 x 6 cm

This Morganite was naturally etched while in the pocket. It has a rich pink color that is unmistakable. It is crystallized all around, and is substantially large at nearly 4 inches tall. It weighs 194 grams.

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(click on the pictures to enlarge)

AXINITE1 - Magnesio-axinite
$ 365.00 SOLD
Merelani Hills, Lelatema Mtns., Arusha Region, Tanzania
miniature - 3.5 x 3.2 x .8 cm

Magnesio-axinite of this color is quite unusual from any location. This was found in the Tanzanite mines of Tanzania. They are notoriously damaged, this one has a pleasing pink-lilac color, is well crystallized and only has a little damage on the right bottom corner. Very difficult to replace as these don't come out often. 

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(click on the pictures to enlarge)

BENITOITE2 - Benitoite on Crosite
$ 1350.00 SOLD
Benitoite Gem Mine, San Benito Co., California
miniature - 3.3 x 2.6 x 2.6 cm

This is a large Benitoite on white matrix. There has been little to no production for the last 6+ years. The largest crystal is 1.75 cm on the top edge of the Benitoite (a little less than 3/4 inch). It has a great sapphire color with no damage on the Benitoites. It comes mounted on a custom acrylic base.

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(click on the pictures to enlarge)

MIMETITE5 - Mimetite
$ 295.00 SOLD
San Pedro Corralitos Mine, Chihuahua, Mexico
miniature - 5.0 x 3.5 x 2.5 cm

These classic mimetites were mined in the 70's. Good ones are very valuable. This one came out of a collection in Arizona, it has a rich orange-yellow color with bright boytroidal nobs. The top right corner has slight breakage behind the nob, but cannot been seen when viewing it head-on. A good miniature of a hard-to-find location. 

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(click on the pictures to enlarge)

TOURM51 - Tourmaline var. Indicolite with Lepidolite
$ 275.00 SOLD NET
Santa Rosa Mine, Itambacuri, Brazil
miniature - 5.0 x 1.8 x .8 cm

This is a solid, gemmy tourmaline with purple Lepidolite. The top crystal is double terminated, and overall it is a bright crystal with the classic Santa Rosa color. It's just under 2 inches long, and is pristine except for a small contact near the base where lepidolite had been growing on it, and came off at some point. Gemmy tourmalines from Brazil have become scarce on the marketplace. 

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(click on the pictures to enlarge)

SUGILITE1 - Sugilite with Aegerine
$ 495.00 SOLD NET
N'Chwanning III Mine, Kalahari manganese fields, Republic of South Africa
miniature - 3.2 x 3 x 1.5 cm

Here is an excellent specimen of crystallized Sugilite from the new find at the N'Chwaning III mine. For years Sugilite has been found at the Wessels Manganese mine, in massive, non-crystallized seams of solid purple. This was a relatively small pocket at the new location. For the size few were any better than this one. The sugilite has that electric purple quality with fine fibrous needles. I have seen pricing from other dealers has been higher than $1500 for a piece this nice. Comes mounted on a one inch square acrylic base.

 

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