Titanite (twin) (RARE locality)

Item Description

A very hard to find twinned crystal of Titanite (Sphene) from the Karibib Constituency in the Erongo Region of Namibia. I've seen Titanites from the Gamsberg area in the past, but this one is specifically labeled as coming from Karibib from Sydney ("Sid") Pieters, who was one of the key figures in the world of minerals in modern-day Namibia. This piece is a sharp, lustrous, thick/stout, twin that shows hues of dark brown and golden-green (best seen with backlighting) with a defined reentrant angle at the center of the specimen. Now, the piece is not pristine, it has some roughness, but it's the rare locality that really matters here, especially if you collect twins, titanium-bearing minerals or specimens from Namibia.
Formerly in the collection of William ("Bill") Pinch (August 15, 1940 - April 1, 2017) of Rochester, New York. Bill was one of the most knowledgeable and accomplished mineral collectors / amateur mineralogist of the 20th century, and he was the namesake for the rare mercury oxyhalide species, Pinchite. The prestigious Pinch medal, which is typically awarded at the Tucson Gem And Mineral Show by the Mineralogical Association of Canada is also named in his honor. You can read his bio at the following link ( http://www.williampinch.com/about ).