Garnet from USA, California, Little Three Mine

The Little Three Mine in California has become well-known for its spessartine garnets in combination with schorl and albite, an American classic. This piece is a beautiful example of all three, rare to find in one piece today. Here a rich orange spessartine garnet and a lustrous, jet-black schorl crystal sit together on a bright matrix of bladed cleavelandite (with a slight blue tint to it), giving you the full trifecta of color and species that collectors of this old California pegmatite chase.

The spessartine glows a warm, saturated orange and, true to the locality, displays the natural etching these garnets are known for. The garnet actually sits in a little pocket, connected to matrix by just the two sides. The associated schorl is sharp and shiny, nestled in a cleft of the cleavelandite blades, with the white matrix setting off both species to fine effect. The schorl actually goes through the entire piece, you can see it coming out the other side under the garnet.

This material has not come out of the ground in decades, and complete, undamaged combination pieces from the Little Three are increasingly hard to find. A wonderful and accessible example of a true California classic.