Dioptase

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This is an absolutely dazzling and gorgeous small cabinet specimen of Dioptase from new finds (2018-2019) at the copper mines of Mindouli in the Republic of the Congo (former French Congo and not to be confused the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo). It is a sculptural Dioptase small cabinet piece featuring a hummocky surface just covered in sparkling, sugary, dark emerald-green Dioptase crystals to 2 mm! The brilliant luster of the Dioptase makes them scintillate with any amount of ambient lighting at any orientation! A captivating piece that can be displayed in a few orientations! Interestingly, this seemed to form as a cast, perhaps over "bubbles" or aragonite or calcite that later dissolved away. This was a unique find in the history of dioptase, and they are really stand out objects on a shelf. This is the last of the few smaller sized good specimens we got from the find. Many of them sadly did not make it to the mineral market, but were cut into small pieces for lapidary use and sold by the gram as sparkly jewels for wire wrap and mounted settings in jewelry.