Andradite Garnet (Geode / "Coconut") (new find)

Item Description

In the last couple years, a good friend of ours in Peru provided us with a very small parcel of these unusual and interesting Andradite Garnet specimens. These are unlike anything we've seen from Peru for anywhere else for that matter. Originally the locality given was Pampa Blanca, but we have never received confirmation on this locality. We have also been told that there the locality (or more likely a small hole in the ground) is finished and no more specimens are being found, so we may never seen them again. These pieces were called "coconuts" by the locals who dug them, as they form in hollow geode-like "balls", which are in turn cracked open to show that they formed in multiple generations / layers showing Garnets of different colors. This piece is a partial edge of one of the "coconuts" with a dark reddish-brown exterior comprising trapezohedral crystals - with the largest partial crystal measuring 6 mm across - and the broken edges show multi-layered banding with various hues of green, golden and brown. The piece is contacted around the periphery where it was removed from the pocket wall, but there are several undamaged trapezohedral crystals on the top, and plenty of tiny golden colored crystals on the underside. These are certainly strange and unique Garnets, and this piece would fit nicely into any worldwide collection, a Peruvian suite or a collection of unusual mineral. Valued at $400.