Anatase on Quartz (classic material) (ex Franceso Bedogne Collection)

Item Description

A classic Norwegian Anatase specimen featuring excellent sapphire blue color, sharp, lustrous crystals on a very gemmy lustrous Quartz crystal. When backlit, the Anatase crystals are gemmy and these are true blue Anatase, not brown or black like many others out there. The largest crystal measures up to 6 mm. Good Anatase specimens from Norway are next to impossible to obtain these days, even the more recent specimens from 15 years ago, due to the fact that this famous locale is protected as a natural site and collecting is strictly forbidden. The best of these specimens are certainly the finest Anatase specimens in the world, and they simply are stunning to view in person. From the worldwide collection of famed Italian mineral collector, field collector and author, Francesco Bedogne of Sondrio, Italy (Collection #181). The piece is accompanied by a label from the Geological Museum of the University of Oslo. Bedogne wrote dozens of articles and several books about the mineralogy of Italian Alpine localities such as Val Bregaglia, Val Masino, Val Codera, Val Spluga, Valtellina and the famous Val Malenco. He was also the founder of the Valtellinese Mineralogical Institute.