Fluorite (etched corner)

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These etched fluorite corners are perhaps the most unusual and desired varietals from the Elmwood Mine among its many fluorite styles, and are unique in the world to this day. Only a few good pockets of these had been found over many decades. This particular piece would date to the 1980s, and then went into the Liebetrau collection. This one is sharply formed and complete-all-around and pristine and features two colors, a nearly colorless to very pale purple, almost triangular-shaped, elongate pyramidal stalk capped by the remnants of an original cube face from a dissolved (technically dissolution) crystal. The result is a three-sided, purple-zoned cube atop a stem or stalk, which would have pointed into the core of the original giant cube from which this corner came out. The stem or stalk measures about 7 cm in length and has sharp edges with the "faces" having many subtle chevron-shaped etched patterns over its entirety. The pair of intergrown cube remnants are glassy with square to rectangular growth features on their surface and the underside of them shows a strong and rough dissolution edge. Their interiors are very pale purple with a dark purple exterior. The etch patterns along with the pale to almost colorless stem and the dark purple exterior of the trigons make for a showy piece. Excellent for this rare style.