Helvine on Microcline with Opal-AN

Item Description

A full-sized and beautifully balanced miniature specimen of these elusive Helvines. This locality is best known for its superb Spessartine Garnets which are often found in association with Smoky Quartz, but there a few other associated minerals found with these Garnets, which include these superb Helvines. Typically crystals of Helvine are small (most a few mm), but the crystals from Wushan are not often well over 1 cm, and they are textbook examples to boot! This piece features a very sharp, well-formed, attractive modified tetrahedral crystals of yellow and brown Helvine measuring 1.3 cm on edge which is associated with a smaller secondary Helvine sitting on beige colored blocky Microcline matrix. The reverse side of the specimen features what appears to be a "Baveno"-twinned Microcline crystal which has a slight coating of golden and colorless Opal-AN ("Hyalite" Opal) on one side (which fluoresces a brilliant electric green under SW UV light). A bit of greenish colored Muscovite can be seen here and there for a nice touch. Overall the piece is in superb condition, and the only real imperfection I can see is a slight "rub" near the lower edge of the main Helvine crystal. You just don't see such large, isolated crystals of Helvine like this on matrix from any locality. If you collect display quality miniatures, Chinese minerals or just fine examples of fairly hard to find species, don't miss out on this one. Originally priced at $1,250 in the inventory.