Fluorite (Blue Pocket - rare style and color)

Item Description

The Fluorites from the Xianghualing Mine in the Chenzhou area of central Hunan Province were among the first to come to market in the West, in the 1990s. They are known for their green color and cubic crystals. On rare occasions in any mine a pocket may be discovered that is completely different. This was the case in a late 1990's discovery with not only an uncommon Fluorite style (octahedral rather than cubic) from this locality... but also a rarely seen color. Here is a large cabinet specimen from the Blue Pocket discovery featuring translucent gemmy beautiful BLUE octahedral Fluorites. The largest octahedral Fluorite measuring 4.3 cm. The crystals have a frosted appearance with micro stepped growth faces that make them look like they were dipped in sugar; and they are super sparkly! In addition to the blue octos, there is an earlier phase of translucent light green octahedral Fluorite underneath, all sitting on a real rock matrix. The piece glows with a light blue to teal color, with saturation depending on the crystal size, when backlit. It does not take much backlighting, only a little. They almost appear to have a faint zoning with a green center due to the gemminess and translucency. The piece is in good condition with some periphery edge wear as well as a couple of small scuffs and bruising noted. You rarely see two generations of Fluorite overgrowing one another from this mine, let alone with different colors of the same habit overgrowing one another. The initial green Fluorite has a strong purple fluorescence. A great opportunity to obtain one of these rare collectable Fluorites. Ex. Kurt Hefendehl collection. Note that this was a very small find and at the time, they were treasured. We have not seen anything like it since, and most remain in collections. The last time we saw some of these at public auction was in 2008, from the Trinchillo Sr. collection. It is a significant specimen for what it is, valued at least $5000.