Rutile with Quartz and Chlorite

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A beautiful and historic specimen of acicular crystals of Rutile on and in transparent Quartz (“rock crystal”) with patches of Chlorite. From Ticino in Switzerland, this nineteenth century specimen is accompanied by an “F.H. Butler, late Talling, Mineralogist” label, addressed “180, Brompton Road, London, S.W.”. The marked price is 7/6 [shillings], or 37.5p in today’s decimal money, however not in real terms! Butler’s label also mentions “Specular Iron” which is indeed probably some of the metallic black granular clusters on the underside. The Rutile is a rich lustrous metallic reddish-bronze and occurs as rich carpets of reticulated acicular crystals coating and included within the Quartz crystals, some of the latter being developed to over 4 cm. The faces of the Quartz crystals at one side of the specimen have a brilliant lustre and are most likely what Butler has referred to as “partly polished”. The specimen is not perfect and does have various patches of damage and bruising, but this is often part of the package with such historic specimens. A terrific specimen.\n