Willemite

Willemite is a very rare zinc silicate species and yet of its few significant occurrences worldwide each has its own unique form, or appearance. At the world-famous Tsumeb mine in Namibia the classic Willemite is sea-green/blue in colour with a glossy wet-looking resinous lustre and typically forms botryoidal masses composed of many alligned tiny short prismatic crystals. This extremely rich example from Tsumeb presents a rather lovely curved thin layer of translucent Willemite crystals clearly representing a cast after some earlier mineral. Both the outer (convex) and inner (concave) surfaces are coated with fine glossy sea-green crystals and when held up to the light the superb translucency shows up really well. The inner surface is much brighter with small areas of blue-green Rosasite evident, whilst the outer edge is largely covered in a fine white dusting of Dolomite, with some tiny rhombic crystals visible. This is a very classy Tsumeb Willemite in superb condition and with an excellent sculptural form. Ex Weyand collection.

Unknown Owner

Product details

Species

Willemite, Rosasite

SizeSmall Cabinet

Dimensions6.5 x 8.9 x 2.8 cm

Locality

Namibia, Oshikoto Region, Tsumeb

Added on09/20/2025

Comments

Known provenance

2026/01