Rhodochrosite on and included in Quartz (ex Kay Robertson Collection)

Item Description

A really unusual and cool Quartz / Rhodochrosite association specimen, not from Butte, but rather the Philipsburg Mining District in Montana. The piece features many robust, sharp, lustrous, translucent, prisms of Quartz measuring up to 5.1 cm long which play host to a good number of small sharp, well-formed, rhombs of Rhodochrosite. The interesting aspect of the piece is that you can see the Rhodochrosites on the surface have a tan overgrowth, but a few of them are actually INCLUDED inside of the Quartz crystals and have retained their original beautiful pink color. You can see patches of pink color glowing inside of a few Quartz crystals to create a really interesting effect. I've never seen a piece like this from Philipsburg, and would make a great addition to any US mineral collection or a suite of Rhodochrosite specimens, especially due to its size, as one rarely sees pieces that measures over 12 cm from Philipsburg. Priced at $1,200 in the inventory. Ex Kay Robertson Collection (#3312). Kay is a prominent California collector, who specialized in European classics (see the article in the March-April, 2007 Mineralogical Record and the 50+ page article in the German Magazine "Mineralien Welt" November-December 2017).