Kunzite/Spodumene

Unknown Owner

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This large, gem crystal is a spodumene that grades gently from pale green to pink and, in a quirk common to many of the Beebe hole spodumenes in general, the color goes intense kunzite pink on the c axis even though from the other axes you would more appropriately label this as plain ol' spodumene with a bit of pink to it. The Beebe Hole was hit by accident when Loren Beebe was prospecting for garnets (around 1976?) in this remote area and stumbled on a spod shard. Exploration led to a SINGLE pocket which he collected in entirety and hoarded for several decades, selling mostly the cutting rough and keeping most of the better specimens until only recently. He sold this one to his friend Al Ordway, who in turn sold it to Chris. This crystal is said by those who have seen them all, including myself when I visted Loren in 1997 and saw them laid out in his living room, to be one of the top specimens for quality and form. Chris considered it one of the top three, and I would place it in the 3rd-4th spot myself. The best are with Bill Larson and the LA County Museum so if you buy this you would be in good company! This is not far off, in any case, and is an astonishing large gem kunzite from California regardless of where it came from. The quirky story of this one-time jackpot just adds to the fun (and perhaps to the value). Needless to say, the whole area has been searched up and down but no more have been found, even after 30 years.