Name: Andalusite
Brand: The Arkenstone
Price: 8500 USD
Availability: InStock

Andalusite

This large, museum-sized specimen of andalusite from Brazil is truly surprising and we did a double take when we unpacked it in the Alvaro Lucio collection. This is a spectacular and rare single crystal of andalusite with good form and a pleasing pinkish-brown color. It measures a full five inches in length and almost two inches in width, with a columnar outline. It is 691 grams (approx 1.5 pounds!). Looking carefully at the piece, one can see that it is probably several crystals in nearly perfect parallel growth; and an examination of the termination looks like there are eight just slightly staggered terminations. It is very robust and very well-formed displaying some degree of surface translucency and moderate luster. For a metamorphic mineral with crystals usually frozen in its host rock that doesn't commonly form in good crystals like this, or this big! And despite the size, it is impressively preserved, and is well composed and complete (only the back seems contacted). We have simply no comparables for this size. This is probably on of the better andalusite crystals to come out of Brazil in this size class, and worthy of a museum. Alvaro Lucio was one of the major brazilian dealers and collectors, and this comes from his important collection. We are honored to present a selection from the collection of Alvaro Lucio. Alvaro Lucio was arguably the most well-known and accomplished mineral dealer and collector in Brazil. He graduated with a degree in civil engineering, mining and metallurgy from the Escola de Minas de Ouro Preto in 1949. He began his PhD in the United States and completed it at the Federal University of Minas Gerais. He worked as a professor of extractive metallurgy at UFMG, and also as a technical consultant for several companies in the sector. He was the author of several works, published in books and magazines around the world. He received several honors for his contribution to the development of metallurgy and the introduction of metallurgical physical chemistry in Brazil. His knowledge, solicitousness and enthusiasm will be greatly missed in the mineral world.

$8,500.00