Hematite with Magnetite

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A sparkling, fine miniature from one of the oldest noted finds here: Hematite specimens from this area of the Binn Valley are not very common and to combine it with Magnetite makes it rare. The lustrous, bladed Hematites are directionally intergrown with oriented, tabular crystals of Magnetite, all on a gneiss matrix. Classic and excellent, this is older material from the Carl Bosch (1874-1940) and Smithsonian collections. Originally obtained by Bosch in 1892, from a collector named Steiner. This was one of the later acquisitions to the Robertson collection, #9875, at a time in the 1980s (approximately) when she already had a very deep European suite. Bosch was known for collecting quality, big or small in any size. The provenance is very important: http://minrec.org/labels.asp?colid=205. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1931 for his work on high-pressure ammonia (fertilizer) synthesis!