Descloizite - image 1

Descloizite

Unknown Owner
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A superb miniature with excellent spear-point crystals of descloizite from what is unarguably the best locality for the species. This piece has excellent luster and some very showy iridescent color at the terminations of some crystals! It is, in my opinion, just a tremendous miniature for a species which is usually dismissed as dull, earthy, and ugly out of hand. Well, not this piece! 5 x 4 x 3 cm

Product details

SpeciesDescloizite
SizeMiniature
Dimensions5.0 x 4.0 x 3.0 cm
Added on10/23/2024
LocalityNamibia, Otjozondjupa Region, Berg Aukas Mine

Known provenance

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

Learn more

Descloizite
Mineral guide
Learn about Descloizite
lead-zinc vanadate with lustrous rosettes, black-to-brown tones, and warm translucence; top localities Otavi, Namibia and Ojuela, Mexico.
Descloizite
Regional guide
Descloizite from Berg Aukas Mine, Namibia
Berg Aukas descloizite is one of the great “species-defining” classics: the locality by which serious collectors judge descloizite. The best pieces have a sculptural, almost architectural presence—dark brown to nearly black spear-point crystals, glossy blades, jackstraw bundles, radiating rosettes, and sharply terminated clusters that can look metallic under a show lamp yet glow warm reddish brown along thinner edges. Many specimens sit in pleasing contrast on pale calcite, dolomite, smithsonite, or willemite-bearing matrix, giving the dark vanadate crystals the visual authority of black lacquer against limestone.