Quartz var. Smoky with Rhodochrosite & Bertrandite - image 1

Quartz var. Smoky with Rhodochrosite & Bertrandite - image 2

Quartz var. Smoky with Rhodochrosite & Bertrandite - image 4

Quartz var. Smoky with Rhodochrosite & Bertrandite - image 5

Quartz var. Smoky with Rhodochrosite & Bertrandite

$2,450.00

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The ArkenstoneFeatured

3,403 for sale·Member since 2026

This attractive small-cabinet specimen hosts not only a dramatic freestanding translucent rhodochrosite "disc" upon contrasting smoky quartz - which is already pretty good - but also some very large and rare crystals of the species, bertrandite. The disc reches about 1.75 cm and the sharp bertrandite crystals, which are unusually robust, reach to 1.4 cm. The whole piece is elegant and well composed to display both species on the black quartz matrix. This is old material, seldom seen! Back in the early 90s, we saw a limited number of fluorites and other minerals - rarely rhodochrosite - from the Kounrad mining area of Kazakhstan. I bought many from the Fersman Museum of Moscow in that era, and they told me that most such specimens came from scientific expeditions and assays in the region, which hosted military tungsten and copper mines among others. We saw very little good material, as nobody there was really collecting for specimens beyond a few museum trips. This specimen I sourced from George Witters in the late 1990s, and sold to Rich Geiger. This is a very rare locality piece, and also an attractive and significant miniature for any rhodo or Soviet Republic regional collector. For quality, this is as good as a Kounrad rhodo gets, gram per gram.