Gem Sphalerite and Quartz with Calcite - image 1

Gem Sphalerite and Quartz with Calcite - image 2

Gem Sphalerite and Quartz with Calcite

$2,250.00

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The ArkenstoneFeatured

3,403 for sale·Member since 2026

This combination piece from the Huanggang Mines in China features a super attractive gem Sphalerite crystal set among a few transparent Quartz crystals and a Sphalerite sprinkled Calcite rhomb. Sphalerite is one of the few sulfide minerals that can exhibit translucent to gemmy interiors, some so gemmy that they can be cut into gemstones (and this piece is gemmy enough to yield some stones, but it would be tragic to cut it!). Yellow to yellow-green varieties such as this, especially when gemmy, are known as Cleiophane. This specimen hosts a single, translucent, 2.3 cm Sphalerite perched in the midst of a group of well formed Quartz crystals ranging from 1.5 to 4.4 cm in length that are colorless to slightly milky. There is a relatively large, 5 cm Calcite in the background with faces sprinkled with tiny, glittering Sphalerite crystals. The majority of the Quartz crystals on this piece are complete, the large Sphalerite is lightly contacted on the bottom edge and the Calcite is incomplete on the backside. Nice Sphalerite combination pieces such as this are quite uncommon from Huanggang, and this is 2008-2012 vintage from the early years production there. We brought it out and sold it to another dealer who sold it to Richard Rossi, in whose collection we purchased it back recently, a decade or so later.