Quartz Var. Amethyst - image 1
Quartz Var. Amethyst - image 2
Quartz Var. Amethyst - image 3
Quartz Var. Amethyst - image 4
Quartz Var. Amethyst - image 5

Quartz Var. Amethyst

Unknown Owner
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Aesthetic, undamaged, unrepaired matrix specimens are EXTREMELY uncommon from this locality. This particular specimen is a very aesthetic cluster, complete all around, and showing quartz of several styles on one piece. It has phantoms and inclusions that make it more interesting. The grape-jelly purple color is all the more intense when contrasted to the crystal-clear, colorless tips. (and in fact, this deposit is known for such phantom crystals). It is pristine, razor-sharp, all around. The more you look at the piece, the more complexity you see; but first of all the impression is of condition, and color. Matrix amethysts are hard to pry from the tough rocks of these mountains, and despite a huge interest in collecting there today, few come out. Usually, to get a piece like this, one would have to remove a large block of matrix with a diamond chainsaw, to minimize vibrations and damage in collecting. Trimming later is admittedly risky, but necessary to produce a piece like this of good size and balance. They just do not "come out" like this! It is a superb piece literally in the top percentile for its size amongst thousands of other specimens to come from these mountains in recent years. It seems expensive, I admit - but to my eyes it stands out so dramatically from the crowd, that it IS a premium piece. Aesthetic, undamaged, unrepaired matrix specimens are EXTREMELY uncommon in this quality level and size, despite increasing use of diamond chainsaws to extract them. The deposit just doesn't cooperate in making them. Formerly in the noted collection of Marc Weill.

Product details

SpeciesAmethyst, Quartz
SizeCabinet
Dimensions11.0 x 8.0 x 4.5 cm
Added on10/23/2024
LocalityNamibia, Erongo Region, Goboboseb Mountains

Known provenance

DateCollectorAcquisition price
08/2024Unknown OwnerNot disclosed
—The ArkenstoneNot disclosed

Learn more

Amethyst
Mineral guide
Learn about Amethyst
violet quartz prized for vivid color and crystal forms; affordable Brazilian geodes and razor-sharp Georgia crystals, with collecting localities.
Amethyst
Regional guide
Amethyst from Goboboseb Mountains, Namibia
Goboboseb amethyst is the collector’s “Brandberg” amethyst in its most important market sense: glassy quartz from the basalt country west of the Brandberg massif, showing purple amethyst, smoky quartz, rock crystal, phantoms, hematite veils, and mobile fluid inclusions in combinations that are unusually expressive for quartz. The best crystals are not merely purple; they look internally built, with smoky stems, violet caps, ghost-crystal outlines, clay or hematite veils, and trapped liquid-vapor bubbles that animate the specimen when it is turned in the hand.