Corundum var: Sapphire

Ganish Marbles, Nagar District, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan
Ex. Jack Halpern
Miniature, 3.6 x 2.3 x 2.3 cm
Start Time: 01/11/2025 8:00:00 pm (CST)
End Time: 01/18/2025 6:30:00 pm (CST)
Auction Closed
Winning Bid: $925

Item Description

The lesser-known Ganish (Ganeish) marble locality along the Hunza River in Pakistan for several years has been producing attractive and finely-crystallized Ruby and Sapphire specimens, but in a very limited quantity. I've seen a handful of fine pieces over the years, and this particular piece is one of the best miniatures we've ever had to offer from the locality. This piece hosts a pair of notably sharp, and well-formed, pseudo-octahedral (trigonal) crystals of rich pink (with a slight purple overtone) colored Sapphire measuring up to 2.3 cm, aesthetically sitting on marble matrix. The crystals show good internal gemminess/translucency when backlit, and upon looking closely, I don't see any real damage anywhere. The crystals GLOW with an intense red fluorescence under LW UV light. Incredibly good quality, with large crystals for the locality, an UN-REPAIRED on matrix. Valued $3,500-$4,500. You just don't see showy display quality specimens with crystals this size from Ganish on the market these days, and if this piece were from Mogok, Myanmar, it would be well over 5-figures. I will say that the color is just a bit more saturated in the video than the piece appears in person, but the color is still quite vivid.
ATTENTION: We are happy to announce our new book featuring the Jack Halpern collection entitled "Addicted to Beauty", which will be available in March from the Mineralogical Record. The following is an excerpt from Rob Lavinsky from the foreword of the book. "I am honored to have been entrusted with the deaccessioning of Jack Halpern’s famed collection. This book is not only designed to commemorate Jack's minerals, but also the man himself and how he inspired so many of us who are in the hobby today. Regarding the sale of his collection, Jack’s one comment and wish to me and to his family and friends was that we would carry forward his 'Legacy of Beauty' out into the broad world."
From the collection of Jack Halpern No. 2923. Jack was born May 18, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York, but has been a long-time resident of San Francisco. He assembled one of the great mineral collections in the world encompassing over 3,200 specimens with a specific emphasis on color, quality, and style/aesthetics, which is evident in every piece. He admired specimens of all sizes from thumbnails to large cabinets and the vast majority of them rank from fine to world-class in their quality.
Above all else, Jack is considered to be the greatest gentleman in the modern era of mineral collecting. He is beloved by all those who have met him, and he truly is one of the most iconic figures in the mineral world. We recently acquired Jack's collection, and the VAST majority of these pieces will be offered here in the auctions, as we feel that everyone deserves and equal opportunity at acquiring these important, well-documented and fine quality pieces for their collections. We are honored to have the opportunity to offer Jack's treasures to everyone on a regular basis in the auctions.
We encourage you to read our blog post at https://www.irocks.com/the-jack-halpern-collection or his profile on the Mineralogical Record website https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/halpernjack/ for more information

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Bidding History

Bid Amount Bid Time
$925 01/18/2025 5:08:07 pm (CST)
$900 01/18/2025 5:08:07 pm (CST)
$875 01/18/2025 1:02:30 pm (CST)
$850 01/18/2025 1:02:30 pm (CST)
$775 01/17/2025 8:22:10 am (CST)
$750 01/17/2025 8:22:10 am (CST)
$575 01/17/2025 8:21:55 am (CST)
$550 01/17/2025 8:21:55 am (CST)
$333 * 01/14/2025 12:01:19 am (CST)
$333 * 01/14/2025 12:01:19 am (CST)
$102 01/13/2025 8:26:55 am (CST)
$92 01/12/2025 5:16:36 am (CST)
$86 01/12/2025 5:16:36 am (CST)
$82 01/12/2025 5:16:27 am (CST)
$72 01/12/2025 5:16:27 am (CST)
$62 01/12/2025 5:16:20 am (CST)
$52 01/12/2025 5:16:19 am (CST)
$47 01/12/2025 5:16:12 am (CST)
$42 01/12/2025 5:16:12 am (CST)
$37 01/12/2025 5:16:02 am (CST)
$32 01/12/2025 5:16:02 am (CST)
$27 01/12/2025 12:37:31 am (CST)
$22 01/12/2025 12:37:30 am (CST)
$10 01/11/2025 10:55:51 pm (CST)
* Proxy Bid Battle: In the event of two customers inputting matching proxy bids, the leading bid goes to the earliest of the two proxy bids. Tie winners are shown in bold.