Ilvaite on Quartz

Dalnegorsk, Dalnegorsk Urban District, Primorsky Krai, Russia
Ex. Jack Halpern
Small Cabinet, 7.8 x 5.7 x 4.7 cm
Start Time: 01/11/2025 8:00:00 pm (CST)
End Time: 01/18/2025 6:57:00 pm (CST)
Auction Closed
Winning Bid: $955

Item Description

Dalnegorsk has given collectors some of the best crystallized examples of Ilvaite in the world. You can make a case that the best Ilvaites ever found are those from Dalnegorsk, and while the Huanggang Mine in Inner Mongolia gave us bigger and more expensive ones, these Russian specimen are still more aesthetic and lustrous, generally. This piece hosts many fine quality, HIGHLY lustrous, jet-black, prismatic Ilvaite crystals with classic "chisel"-shaped terminations, sittiong atop a matrix composed of gemmy, colorless, pyramidal Quartz crystals, sitting on what appears to be Pyroxene matrix (possibly Hedenbergite?). The largest Ilvaite measures about 1.6 cm long. I can't find any real damage of note, and the patch of "drusy" looking crystals on the top portion of the piece is not broken, but actually composed of hundreds of tiny crystallized Ilvaites. Beautiful, show and good quality. Old material from the 1980s or 1990s.
ATTENTION: We are happy to announce our new book featuring the Jack Halpern collection entitled "Addicted to Beauty", which will be available in March from the Mineralogical Record. The following is an excerpt from Rob Lavinsky from the foreword of the book. "I am honored to have been entrusted with the deaccessioning of Jack Halpern’s famed collection. This book is not only designed to commemorate Jack's minerals, but also the man himself and how he inspired so many of us who are in the hobby today. Regarding the sale of his collection, Jack’s one comment and wish to me and to his family and friends was that we would carry forward his 'Legacy of Beauty' out into the broad world."
From the collection of Jack Halpern. Jack was born May 18, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York, but has been a long-time resident of San Francisco. He assembled one of the great mineral collections in the world encompassing over 3,200 specimens with a specific emphasis on color, quality, and style/aesthetics, which is evident in every piece. He admired specimens of all sizes from thumbnails to large cabinets and the vast majority of them rank from fine to world-class in their quality.
Above all else, Jack is considered to be the greatest gentleman in the modern era of mineral collecting. He is beloved by all those who have met him, and he truly is one of the most iconic figures in the mineral world. We recently acquired Jack's collection, and the VAST majority of these pieces will be offered here in the auctions, as we feel that everyone deserves and equal opportunity at acquiring these important, well-documented and fine quality pieces for their collections. We are honored to have the opportunity to offer Jack's treasures to everyone on a regular basis in the auctions.
We encourage you to read our blog post at https://www.irocks.com/the-jack-halpern-collection or his profile on the Mineralogical Record website https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/halpernjack/ for more information

Did You Know We Offer Custom Bases?

Learn More

Bidding History

Bid Amount Bid Time
$955 01/18/2025 6:51:21 pm (CST)
$930 01/18/2025 6:51:21 pm (CST)
$905 01/18/2025 6:50:49 pm (CST)
$880 01/18/2025 6:47:29 pm (CST)
$876 01/18/2025 6:47:29 pm (CST)
$855 01/18/2025 6:47:20 pm (CST)
$830 01/18/2025 6:47:20 pm (CST)
$805 01/18/2025 6:46:53 pm (CST)
$780 01/18/2025 6:44:04 pm (CST)
$775 01/18/2025 6:44:04 pm (CST)
$755 01/18/2025 6:43:56 pm (CST)
$730 01/18/2025 6:43:56 pm (CST)
$705 01/18/2025 6:43:17 pm (CST)
$680 01/18/2025 6:40:43 pm (CST)
$660 01/18/2025 6:40:43 pm (CST)
$655 01/18/2025 6:40:33 pm (CST)
$630 01/18/2025 6:40:33 pm (CST)
$605 01/18/2025 6:39:23 pm (CST)
$580 01/18/2025 6:36:43 pm (CST)
$555 * 01/18/2025 6:34:06 pm (CST)
$555 * 01/18/2025 6:34:06 pm (CST)
$530 01/18/2025 6:33:49 pm (CST)
$505 01/18/2025 6:33:49 pm (CST)
$495 01/18/2025 6:33:11 pm (CST)
$485 01/18/2025 6:31:07 pm (CST)
$475 * 01/18/2025 6:30:58 pm (CST)
$475 * 01/18/2025 6:30:58 pm (CST)
$465 01/18/2025 6:30:47 pm (CST)
$455 01/18/2025 6:30:47 pm (CST)
$445 01/18/2025 6:30:36 pm (CST)
$435 01/18/2025 6:30:35 pm (CST)
$425 01/18/2025 6:30:26 pm (CST)
$415 01/18/2025 6:30:26 pm (CST)
$405 01/18/2025 6:29:14 pm (CST)
$395 01/18/2025 6:24:10 pm (CST)
$385 01/18/2025 6:23:59 pm (CST)
$384 01/18/2025 6:23:59 pm (CST)
$374 01/18/2025 6:23:51 pm (CST)
$364 01/18/2025 6:23:51 pm (CST)
$354 01/18/2025 6:23:36 pm (CST)
$344 01/18/2025 6:23:35 pm (CST)
$334 01/18/2025 5:18:25 pm (CST)
$324 01/18/2025 10:43:23 am (CST)
$314 01/18/2025 10:40:43 am (CST)
$304 01/17/2025 7:45:36 pm (CST)
$298 01/17/2025 7:45:35 pm (CST)
$294 01/17/2025 7:45:23 pm (CST)
$284 01/17/2025 7:45:23 pm (CST)
$274 01/17/2025 7:45:14 pm (CST)
$264 01/17/2025 7:45:14 pm (CST)
$254 01/17/2025 7:45:05 pm (CST)
$244 01/17/2025 7:45:05 pm (CST)
$234 01/17/2025 4:15:24 pm (CST)
$224 01/17/2025 12:20:09 pm (CST)
$223 01/17/2025 12:20:08 pm (CST)
$214 01/16/2025 9:32:17 pm (CST)
$204 01/16/2025 9:32:17 pm (CST)
$92 01/16/2025 12:09:21 am (CST)
$82 01/16/2025 12:09:21 am (CST)
$51 01/13/2025 4:00:57 pm (CST)
$46 01/12/2025 5:00:30 am (CST)
$44 01/12/2025 5:00:30 am (CST)
$10 01/12/2025 12:16:57 am (CST)
* Proxy Bid Battle: In the event of two customers inputting matching proxy bids, the leading bid goes to the earliest of the two proxy bids. Tie winners are shown in bold.