Spessartine Garnet on Albite with Schorl

Unknown Owner

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This is a significant and classic Little Three Mine Spessartine Garnet, dating to the Louis Spalding Sr. era of mining when the best of these were produced from this small mine in a remote part of San Diego County (late 1960s into the early 1970s). It was then in the collection of Bryant Harris, who almost certainly participated in the mining as well. This is a fantastic specimen of San Diego garnet, super rare compared to spessartine from any other country's finds, as it features the famous combination from the mine: one large, vivid orange crystal on a stark white Albite matrix combined with a single, contrasting black Schorl crystal. The big, 3.3 cm, lustrous and colorful Spessartine is gemmy to translucent and contrasts well with the white Albite matrix and a small, black Schorl Tourmaline crystal. The Spessartine crystal is is placed nicely on the piece to show of its color, dodecahedral crystal form and gemminess. It is essentially complete with the left side having a a contact against what was probably some Albite in the pocket. Crystals of this size, from this deposit, are normally etched and partial - this is a complete giant! There are two smaller, 5 and 6 mm Spessartines on the piece as well, along with a few subhedral crystals, all them adding additional color to the piece. The lustrous, black Schorl measures 1 cm in length and is placed prone near the big Spessartine in a small pocket within the Albite. Large, intact Spessartines from the Little Three of this size are very scarce on the market and even in the major collections in San Diego where they are considered one of the top collectibles from the area - as witnessed by the provenance from Bryant to Tim over the last several decades of ownership (both were major San Diego collectors of note). It comes with a custom engraved acrylic base and is a highly important USA specimen.