Fluorite (''phantom'' crystals)

Item Description

This specimen is listed as coming from "Yangxin" in the Hubei Province of China, but I can't find any listings for any Fluorites from this area, so it might be an accurate locale. The piece somewhat reminds me of the Fluorites from Yiwu, Zhejiang, China, but it's not an obvious match. With that said, it's a beautiful cabinet sized display specimen featuring excellent, sharp, lustrous, very well-formed, gemmy cubic crystals showing fantastic internal "phantoms" which alternate in color from a light golden hue to purple. Some of the larger Fluorites have a bit more of a reddish hue when backlit, but the overlying color is purple. The largest Fluorite measures 2.2 cm on edge. A thin layer of tiny white Calcite crystals are partially covering some of the Fluorites, and the matrix is coated by sparkling drusy Quartz. No major damage that I can see, and the piece is well-trimmed, so it displays beautifully as you can see. A very showy, colorful and fine quality specimen for any fan of Fluorites or minerals from China. From the collection of Kurt Hefendehl (#789 C), 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 next two to three years through our various platforms. Priced at $3,000 in our inventory.