Armenite

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This very large thumbnail specimen represents a world-class crystallized Armenite specimen. This is an extremely rare complex barium calcium aluminium aluminosilicate hydrate. A chance discovery in the high alpine mountains in Switzerland during the early 1990s, produced not only the finest Armenite crystals ever seen, but larger, pure crystallized aggregates than any seen before too. The crystals from Isenwegg take several forms with the most desirable being the pyramidally terminated prism seen in this specimen. The largest and most prominent crystal here, is 7 mm in length and displays beautiful sloping terminal faces with a small pinacoid face at the very top. Under magnification this crystal is simply delightful. The remainder of the specimen is made up of much smaller Armenite crystals. It is from the superb systematic collection assembled by the brothers Martin and Michael Günther (1951-2007 & 1956-2021).