Spessartine from Australia, New South Wales, Broken Hill

An amazingly gem and lustrous crystal with unusual stepped surface features. The rich, dark color of this specimen made its translucency nearly imperceptible in lower lighting, but a single flash of the trusty phone flashlight and it's hard to miss. The crystal seems to be completely uncontacted, but a very small portion of the 'bottom' (not shown in photo) has a small association of intergrown galena. This specimen was originally part of the Commander Ed MacCubbin collection (#1189) and was acquired from Wayne and Dona Leicht (Kristalle) at the Hard Rock Summit in Denver 2025.

Photographed by C. C. Choate