Amethyst

Unknown Owner

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This specimen is a very important old classic for amethyst, and a scarcely seen item in even the most prominent old collections. It concists of a large plate of white the most intensely purple gem crystals of amethyst you can imagine, to 2.5 cm. They sparkle like glass, and these are so treasured in Europe, that I have seen specimens of half this quality for more money, in euros no less, at Munich. This is, however, a really good example in that it is aesthetic, and not just representative. It is not prisitne, but is nearly so with only a few break of consequence to peripheral crystals and a few minor dings otherwise (and probably is 120-plus years old, so you should give a little leniency!). Consider that at one time these were the BEST purple amethyst crystals for the collector in the world, for overall quality, and a treasured few specimens commanded their weight in gold at the time. Before the discovery of the Mexican and Bolivian crystals, after all, where would you get such beautiful and intense amethyst of this quality? The last one I saw of this size and caliber, a similar specimen from the Ed David collection, was one for which he himself had paid more than the asking price here although they are not too dissimilar.