Spinel on matrix

Spinel on matrixA pristine, sharp, lustrous, complete, gemmy, beautiful reddish pink colored octahedron of Spinel measuring 1. 3 cm across beautifully set atop white marble matrix. No damage and no repairs! It's incredibly difficult to obtain UN repaired, fine quality isolated Spinel crystals on matrix like this, let alone such a GEMMY crystal! These pieces are highly prized by the locals who mine them, and this particular specimen is very fairly priced compared to

a prominent figure and collector of Colorado minerals

I bought it from a Russian mineral dealer in Munich in 2010

as far as I can tell

This piece is rather difficult to photograph

but this is nearly a cabinet sized piece of this material

I am told that it originally came through the Magistretti collection in Italy

Tourmalines are certainly among the most popular species for collectors

This attractive and fine quality thumbnail is a fine example of this well-known

Portugal from the collection of my father

but specimens are seldom available on the market

Valtellina and the famous Val Malenco

When you backlight the piece