Dioptase

$700.00

$40.00 shipping
Seller offers an extended return window of up to 30 days
Ships from USA

Think Dioptase, think Tsumeb. Although not the Type Locality, the quality of Dioptase crystals from Tsumeb mine in Namibia has meant that many collectors view it as the premier locality of the species. Part of the reason is the exceptional glassy lustre, or gemminess, of the crystals from Tsumeb and their perfection in form. This superb miniature specimen looks, upon first impressions to be a thin fragment of matrix hosting one very large Dioptase crystal, but in fact the thin plate looks to be a 'floater', coated on the reverse with small glossy Calcite rhombs and a single tabular Wulfenite crystal 3 mm on edge. The main Dioptase crystal is magnificent in shape and totally free from damage but is not overly gemmy. That said, it is 1.5 cm in length and intensely coloured - typical emerald-green - and presents the less common form with internal inclusions which produce a slightly etched, microscopically pitted surface. It sits nicely on the matrix, surrounded by a layer of brighter green Dioptase microcrystals, and standing up allowing its wonderful crystal faces to be observed. Ex Weyand collection.