Spessartine Garnet

Unknown Owner

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A very large crystal that is about 215 grams, glassy and gemmy with superb reddish-orange color and etched growth. This spessartine is a floater with large areas of cuttable material. Because of the size, the complexity seems higher than others here, but its really just more surface area tricking the eye into believing that. This crystal is complete all around except for a few very small dings that aren't immediately distracting (but they are there, and the price is thus lowered accordingly from what it might otherwise be, making this a relative bargain for the other qualities and visual impact). Despite its thickness it is wine-red and fully translucent throughout, when backlit. It is hard to say which side I like better, the more uniform side or the side with a neat zig-zag indentation running the length of the center, and with individual gemmy crystals perched on ledges within (bottom row). These photos show only moderately contrived backlighting, even - I can hold it up to a normal light 60-watt bulb and it STILL lights up and glows at me...