Cassiterite with Beryl on Muscovite (ex Francesco Bedogne Collectio)

Item Description

When I first saw this piece, I immediately thought it was from China. It's a dead ringer for the specimens from Huya (Xuebaoding). After looking at the label, my jaw dropped as this specimen came out decades earlier than the Chinese specimens, and considering that they were found on opposite sides of the planet, it's remarkable how similar they are. This piece features a few textbook, razor-sharp, very lustrous, well-formed, jet-black crystals of Cassiterite measuring up to 1.8 cm which are associated with very pale blue, tabular, GEM quality, hexagonal crystals of Beryl (Aquamarine) measuring up to 2.0 cm sitting on silvery bladed Muscovite matrix. Great quality all around and very worthwhile for anybody who collects Brazilian minerals, Cassiterites or association specimens. From the worldwide collection of famed Italian mineral collector, field collector and author, Francesco Bedogne of Sondrio, Italy (Collection #167). 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.