Lorenzenite

$2,000.00

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The ArkenstoneFeatured

3,403 for sale·Member since 2026

Lorenzenite is a rare sodium-titanium silicate found in nepheline syenite igneous rocks with the best crystals in the world originating from Selsurt Mountain within the Lovozero alkaline massif in Russia. Here we have a rather large example showing an unusually isolated large crystal on matrix: a lustrous, sharp, doubly terminated 4.2 cm, chocolate-brown lorenzenite crystal nicely set in dark gray syenite matrix. The faces and edges are sharp and well-formed outlining the textbook orthorhombic shape of the crystal. Black needles of aegirine are randomly distributed in the nepheline syenite groundmass and vary in length from 5 mm to 1 cm. It shows off very aesthetically on this well-balanced small cabinet piece. There is a small, fracture that transects the piece a third of the way down that formed during or just subsequent to growth that is healed with the syenite intrusive. An excellent example of this rare species and locality. An excellent specimen from the Paul Stahl collection. This would likely date to the 1980s or early 1990s, and then they were released for sale largely from Fersman Museum expeditions in the later 1990s. Such large, aesthetic (relatively) examples of this species are nearly impossible to obtain. Most crystals are 2-3 cm or smaller.