Fluorapophyllite-(K) with Stilbite ex Halpern Collection

Item Description

In the 1970s-early 1980s, when this material was first starting to come out in quantity, there was a unique style found at the Pashan Hills quarry which had these rows of sharp, mint-colored crystals standing upright on white Stilbite. To this day, the style remains unique to that era, and makes the combination immediately recognizable compared to all the other hundreds and hundreds of modern era finds and styles of green apophyllite. To many of us, these original "Pashan" pieces remain the gold standard of old collections, and we treasure them when they come up for sale. The Fluorapophyllites are gemmy, glassy, and they have a beautiful, mint-green color that is simply "more monty" than nearly all modern finds which i would usually call a pastel or pale green color. The largest crystal here is about 1.3 cm tall and the crystals are in excellent condition, with only a few terminations that demonstrate Apophyllite's perfect cleavage with a missing point or two (natural, or later, who knows), and one single larger point that is missing on the leftmost cluster (although that is not visible unless you look down on it, so does not affect frontal display). Overall this is both AESTHETIC and CLASSIC, from the famous and now-closed Pashan Quarry at Pune, a time capsule of the late 1980s. The only way to get one like this is, as here, through recycling of collections. Specimens like this could be valued in the $2500 range. A similar example from the same style graces an old cover of The Mineralogical Record.There are numerous references to Jack and his collection in print, but perhaps a good tour of the collection and its history will help give perspective on just how good, and important, this collection is: https://www.irocks.com/the-jack-halpern-collection