Creedite (ex Franceso Bedogne Collection)

Item Description

Creedite from this famous district came out in abundance only briefly in the early to mid-1980s. These crystals are a very deep shade of purple-lavender hue. Some similar specimens came out of Kazakhstan in the 1990s, but were generally paler in color. This one is a rich specimen filled with crystals in the center of the vug. The color ranges from nearly colorless to a soft purple hue, but when you consider how rare purple minerals are, you have to take notice when one of these older Creedites comes out on the market. This piece hosts fine quality, sharp, lustrous, gem/gemmy, white to soft purple color crystals in radial "sprays" on the display side of the piece. The largest crystal measures 1.6 cm long. From the worldwide collection of famed Italian mineral collector, field collector and author, Francesco Bedogne of Sondrio, Italy (Collection #106) with an additional dealer label from Al McGuinness. 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.