Smithsonite with Veszelyite

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Intense color makes this piece stand out from hemimorphites anywhere and this captivating piece is further accented by Veszelyite in a unique older find from China. This piece came out years ago, perhaps 5-10 years ago, and at the time they were labelled as from near Wenshan County, Yunnan Province, China but now we realize they are from Laochang, China. The locality also produced a recent bit of Veszelyite, but without the blue on blue association here. This multihued and multicolored blue specimen has a mix of medium blue, blue-purple, deep blue and light sky blue colors; and the translucence of piece makes it stand out and adds greatly to its appearance. It is unique among many I have seen in the past. As seen in the opened area near the top of the piece, small, shiny, pearlescent, light sky blue botryoids of Smithsonite were initially deposited followed by a patchy, dark royal blue layer of Veszelyite followed subsequently by a uniform layer of almost turquoise blue, translucent, botryoidal Smithsonite. The resulting play of colors due to this layering and the translucency adds depth to the piece resulting in a colorful, very artful specimen that is incredibly pleasing to the eye. The colors of this piece are shockingly saturated and rich!