Name: Andalusite
Brand: The Arkenstone
Price: 6500 USD
Availability: InStock

Andalusite

Sometimes, even with all we have seen, we get a surprise. I have seen small Andalusite from Brazil, and certainly many examples from other countries. But this large, museum sized specimen is truly surprising and we all did a double take when we unpacked it from the Alvaro Lucio collection. This is a spectacular and rare cluster of Andalusite crystals from Brazil with good form and a pleasing pinkish-brown color. There are a dozen crystals in this handsome cluster, several of them are very robust and very well-formed with all of them displaying some degree of surface translucency and moderate luster. Looking down the c-axis of a few of the large crystals it is evident that there are gemmy areas! A few of the big crystals are in parallel orientation and the smaller ones tend to have a more random orientation. Size of the five largest crystals varies from 2 to 4.5 cm in length and 2.5 to 3.7 cm across the diagonal! This group as a whole is impressive and is well composed and nicely balanced. For a metamorphic mineral, usually frozen in its host rock, this large group is absolutely exceptional! It is extremely unusual in its robust form and completeness! Probably some of the best Andalusite crystals to come out of Brazil in theis size class, and worthy of a museum. Large crystallized Andalusite from ANY locale would be considered truly rare, much less a beautiful one. This has excellent provenance literally from the two most important collections of Brazilians who specialized in Brazilian minerals, both the late Luiz Menezes and his friend and trading companion Alvaro Lucio. They were legends in the collecting community and truly helped to expand interest in Brazilian minerals and mineralogy through their dealing, but also through books and teaching. It has been an honor to get a large part of Alvaro's collection (both Tom Campbell here at our HQ, and myself, grew up as collectors buying from them both at shows in the 1980s-1990s).

$6,500.00