Morganite on Cleavelandite

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This is an adorable small cab with extremely good aesthetics, that is an old specimen actually pictured in the mainstream art book: Tiffany - 150 years of gems and jewelry. The crystals have the typical matte finish on upper faces and glassy, gemmy windows into the hexagonal faces. The major crystal is 3.7 x 2.5 x 2 cm in size, and is so gemmy you can see right through it to the albite underneath. Few are so bright, internally! In fact, the matrix of crystallized albite is also sparkling and bright, making for good contrast.Nearly pristine, this major crystal has just one ding on a back face. It is hard to convey in the photos that this is NOT the typical pale pink either, but a rather richly hued crystal for the locality. Massive morganite underlays the whole specimen, which can be seen from the bottom. A superb, rare, locality specimen from one of the most important finds in the County. Mined by norm Dawson in the 1960's, this was sold to Dr. Gerald Clark's collection. In the 1980's Gerry retired and moved to Fallbrook where he teased Bill Larson with this specimen. When Tiffany had their 150th anniversary, Peter Schneirla of that company borrowed several of Bill Larson's important gem crystal pieces from the historic County mines for 6 months display at the Tiffany's headquarters in NYC, and several pieces were shown in their commemorative book to link the company to the historic gem mining of San Diego and the naming of the species Kunzite and Morganite from the region.