Beryl var. Morganite with Quartz on Cleavelandite

Unknown Owner

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This is a significant matrix GEM morganite from old mid-1900s era finds at the most famous SoCal location for morganite. It features a 4 cm morganite of transparent gem quality, nicely tucked in a matrix of cleavelandite, muscovite, and unusual cast forms typical of this location (thought to be casts where kunzite or feldspar once resided). This is typical - but superb. The crystal is 1.5 cm thick and clear as glass so that you can see through it to the matrix underneath. The height is about 3 cm. Can this be trimmed to an elegant miniature, or small cabinet specimen? Probably - but there is merit to leaving something so rarely seen in a large museum sized display piece that shows its context, and how it formed. San Diego's mountains are a significant locality for morganite as gems and crystals both - or, we should say, it once was in the early 1900s and continuing until later discoveries in Brazil and Afghanistan. The mineral species was named after JP Morgan, banker and patron of Tiffany's and Co gemologist Kunz by Kunz himself (Kunzite's namesake). San Diego morganite, however, is not often seen today and it is easy to forget how good it once was. This is one of several early specimens in Jack Halpern's collection which came from Norm Dawson, owner and miner of the White Queen. It would have come out in the 1960s-1970s, and what is shocking is that it has remained in one place until now - in Jack's home in San Francisco! A very important matrix American gem crystal.