Quartz var: Amethyst (with ''phantoms'')

Item Description

Guanajuato, Mexico has produced many attractive Amethysts over the years. This particular specimen dates back to the 1960s-1970s era of mining. This full sized cabinet specimen is filled with sharp, lustrous hexagonal prisms of Quartz / Amethyst measuring up to 1.7 cm, with distinct color zoning, showing a light purple hue on the terminations, that grade into virtually colorless/white shades on the lower parts of the prisms. If you look along the edges of the specimen, you can see the zoning continues through as there are multiple alternating layers of purple and white. This color grading can actually be seen in the crystals themselves, as they show distinct internal "phantoms" when backlit. Virtually all of the crystals are pristine, and the only roughness is around periphery where the piece was removed from the pocket wall. If you collect Amethyst / Quartz, Mexican minerals or you just like attractive locality specimens, this is a good representative example of this classic material The fact that it's ~50-60 years old, combined with the intriguing appearance makes it's a very desirabl display piece.
The piece comes with a label from Walt Lidstrom.
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 No. 974 . 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