Haüyne

$200.00

$40.00 shipping
Seller offers an extended return window of up to 30 days
Ships from USA

Crystal ClassicsFeatured

Tucson, Arizona, USA

7,543 for sale·132 sold

Haüyne is one of those mineral species I find most collectors have difficulty in pronouncing (myself included), unless you are of continental European stock! Looking-up its phonetic pronunciation, it see it is written ah-wee-nyte, a bit tricky in itself! The species, a complex sodium-calcium tectosilicate sulphate (almost as difficult to say!) and is named for the famous French crystallographer René Just Haüy (1743–1822). This cabinet specimen was found in the Fosso Attici, a valley associated with a nearby caldera in central Italy, in the volcanic hills above Rome. The Haüyne occurs as crude crystals and crystalline aggregates in a characteristic volcanic matrix. Unlike its more famous counterpart from the Eifel volcanic district of Germany, Haüyne from Fosso Attici is a very pale cornflower blue tending to creamy white, as in this specimen. The accompanying video shows this specimen in white LED light and ultraviolet light, where the Haüyne fluoresces a bright transparent, glassy snow white with pale flamingo and candyfloss pink cores.