Minerals
from the Collection of
Brett J. Beach
AB-014 Tourmaline,
variety Elbaite
Double Terminated Floater
ex. Irv Brown & Brett Beach collections
Himalaya
Mine, Mesa Grande District,
San Diego County, California
5.1 x 3 x 2.5 cm.
A classic double-terminated Elbaite exhibiting a modified hemimorphic form. The color-zoned portion of this Tourmaline is much clearer than it appears here. It grades from a light olive-green to light green to pink to blue-green with an extremely thin darker green layer on the termination. While the other half is a combination of pink and red. This crystal is a floater, there is no point of contact on this crystal. Good Himalaya Tourmalines of this size (and for this price) are scarce these days. While sporadic work is being done at this mine, pieces such as this are not being found. These will only get more difficult to obtain in the future. This specimen was obtained by Brett, as a gift, from Irv Brown's personal stash of Himalaya Tourmalines in 1998.
AB-059 Quartz
Stardangervida, Norway
6 x 5 x 8 cm.
A neat cluster of quartz crystals that seem to mimic the snow-capped Fjords where this specimen was found. I would bet that specimen recovery from these pegmatites is every bit as difficult as it is for the Strahlers who work the Swiss Alps for specimens.
AB-037 Topaz
on Microcline with Cleavelandite
Double Terminated
Yunau, Baltistan, Pakistan
5.1 x 5 x 6.2 cm.
A truly aesthetic and gemmy Topaz from the foothills of the Himalayas. The top termination of this crystal has a depression that at first I mistook for a contact. But after much examination & research came to the conclusion that the top termination is in fact inverted. The bottom termination is a little rough where it seems to be included with Albite making a portion of it a little rough. I'm amazed that a Topaz that is this glassy and gemmy was not detatched from the matrix as so many of them are so that they can be sold as faceting rough. While not the perfect matrix Topaz from Pakistan, it displays pretty darn well & is affordable. This was one of Bretts's key pieces when he exhibited his collection competitively at the San Diego County Fair, where the competition is pretty tough, and he has many awards to show for his effort.
AB-013 Garnet, variety Grossular
Jeffrey Mine, Asbestos, Quebec, Canada
3.6 x 4.8 x 1.2 cm.
Grossular Garnets from the Jeffrey Mine are world-famous, and are some of the most sought-after specimens for this species. This group of gemmy pinkish-orange colored crystals has an extraordinary luster, the crystal faces exhibit striations that are classic for these garnets, and the crystals are very well defined. Most importantly, they have an internal brightness combined with external glassy lustre (making them extremely difficult, for me at least, to take a photograph that does it justice) that puts it amongst the finest quality specimens found here. This is truly a killer specimen in every aspect. And it looks even better in person. Fine quality specimens of these Garnets are not easy to find these days as the mine is now closed.
AB-006 Neptunite, Benitoite & Natrolite
Benitoite Gem Mine, San Benito County, California
5 x 5 cm.
A matrix specimen that features several starburst clusters of Neptunite accented with 2 Benitoite crystals and just the right amount of Natrolite gives this specimen a nice combination of contrasting colors.
AB-047 Beryl, variety Bixbite on Rhyolite
Violet
Claims, Wah Wah Mountains,
Beaver County, Utah
specimen
size = 3 x 2 x 1.7 cm.
crystal size = 2.5 x .8 x .6 cm.
A perfectly proportioned matrix specimen of the rarest of all Beryls. This beauty features a deep violet-red beryl crystal with several, albeit small, gemmy portions perched on a nodule of Rhyolite. Another interesting feature of this specimen are some small garnets that have psuedomorphed to Hematite. The rear of the crystal is included by Rhyolite, however it still retains it's hexagonal shape. As you can see, this specimen displays well. Considering the size and quality of the Beryl crystal itself I believe it is very reasonably priced.
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