Quartz Var Amethyst

Unknown Owner

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This piece is a HUGE cluster of amethyst, with robust crystals of a hot purple color leaping out every which way from a core of matrix. The specimen is nearly complete all around, with just a few very small broken crystals on the periphery (only two, really), and is therefore in surprisingly good condition. It is, frankly, one of the finest large examples from this locality I know of for my own taste. This came out in the late 1970s and was sold by Tony Jones to the reclusive collector Hubert de Monmonier in Vista, California. His collection was donated to the University of Arizona upon his death, with discretion to use as they saw fit. After the economic crash in 2008 and the cut of state funding, the museum strategically deaccessed some specimens to create an endowment and keep the doors open (a strategy which, I think, paid off handsomely as they are today one of the very few mineral museums with a good staff, budget, and facility not faced with going under). Joe Budd Photos for The Arkenstone.