Fluorapatite on Albite with Muscovite ex. Lockhart Coll

Item Description

Purple apatite of any intense color, and this is VERY fine in that regard, is rare from Pakistan and seldom seen. Here is a 2.5-cm-long crystal cluster of stacked hexagonal apatites, sprawling on albite-coated muscovite blades. The muscovites are a beige-silvery color, and look like stegosaurus plates that leap up and out form a core of albite matrix. A single (broken) schorl is in association. Overall the piece is 3-dimensional and looks like a flower in person. This interesting combination piece is a lot better in person than the photos convey, due to the difficulty of focus on such a 3-dimensional piece, with muscovites spraying out above and the purple apatite cluster more frontally located. It was purchased in 2007, shortly after it was mined, by collector Brent Lockhart of Houston, from whom I obtained it in trade recently. Comes with custom-made, lucite base for display (a $125 added value). The price paid ($2000 in 2007) at first glance I will admit seems a bit high; but the justification was that it was a really unusual piece, very displayable, but more importantly a complement to broaden a large Pakistani suite that already had all the common things in it that one could get. Comes with custom-made, lucite base for display (a $125 added value). Valued at $2000-2500