Fluorite (1975 discovery)

Item Description

A rarely seen style of Fluorite from a discovery in 1975 at the Kara-Oba Deposit in Kazakhstan. Typically the Fluorites from this locality are octahedral in habit, but occasionally, cubic examples have been found. What makes this piece so significant is the size of the crystals, as the complete cube in center of piece measures 6.7 cm on edge, but the larger underlying Fluorite is bigger, though not 100% complete. With that said, this is a very eye-catching full cabinet sized piece showing a distinct bi-colored appearance with a nearly colorless hue on top, and a rich saturated reddish-purple color underneath. When backlit, the piece GLOWS with color, as it's solid Fluorite, with no matrix. In fact, the piece is nearly a complete "floater" as it's largely crystallized on all sides with no major damage anywhere that I can find. A really different and unique specimen for the locality, worthy of adding to any worldwide Fluorite suite.
From the collection of Kurt Hefendehl (#35 R), a well-known German collector all over Europe with worldwide contacts to dealers and collectors. He started collecting seriously at the age of 14 and his great and varied worldwide collection reached over 6000 pieces. He was very active mineralogically until shortly before his passing in 2020 at the age of 82. Considering his collection had a large number of pieces, it still had an unusually high standard of quality from most worldwide localities. He particularly specialized in all classics as well as minerals of the Black Forest, where he spent much time collecting. His Black Forest and German subcollections went to his good friend Wolfgang Wendel. We at The Arkenstone have the privilege of offering the remainder of this great worldwide collection over the coming months and years through our various platforms.