Rock Roundup: November 2024 Edition
Welcome to this month’s Rock Roundup! Here, we showcase some of the most exciting and favorite specimens recently available for sale. If you missed it, don’t worry—we’ve got a quick recap of the top picks you won’t want to miss. This edition features remarkable highlights from the Wayne Thompson Fluorite Collection, The Renowned Jack Halpern Collection, Our Black Friday & Holiday Sale, and our Mixed Minerals Update.
New Updates from the Jack Halpern Collection
The deaccession of Jack Halpern’s collection marks the end of a chapter, the beginning of another, and most importantly, a continuing story. Each piece in Jack’s collection was a testament to his experiences with other dealers and collectors – a memory with a story, a sentiment woven into the very piece. Since 2020, we have slowly unveiled portions of his collection at shows, online updates, and exclusive auctions. We are thrilled to share an exciting new update from his renewed collection, bringing more of these fine pieces to collectors and enthusiasts alike. We’re sharing some of our favorites below.
A robust, sharp miniature-sized specimen of red-orange Wulfenite with mirror luster
Large, sharp, red-orange wulfenite crystals with mirror-bright luster make this a fine, large miniature piece from THE- famous Red Cloud Mine in Arizona. The main cluster of crystals, on this piece consists of several unusually robust, thick, tabular crystals in stacked parallel growth and is 3 cm across – they stand right up off the matrix! There is another cluster of wulfenite off to the right and a smaller cluster off to the left for a great composition. The crystals are all very thick and juicy, with a unique robustness only seen in a few old finds from the 1930s and before. All the crystals are perched on a piece of matrix with some small, white calcite crystals for great contrast! As with many older pieces, there is little damage by modern standards, but trivial, in context. Minor chipping to a corner of the large crystal and a few other minor blemishes on the edges are not visible from afar – where it looks like a glowing red sign and catches the eye from a distance in a way that most Red Clouds cannot. This is a significant old piece with large, prominent crystals that stand out from the other. Learn more about this Wulfenite specimen here.
A sugary classically unique manganoan Calcite sitting pretty in pink
This is a true classic of 1980s Peruvian minerals, still unique in the world of calcite! It is an aesthetic and elegant manganoan calcite specimen consisting of numerous, flattened rhombs with a sugary coating of the same mineral (two generations of growth). The pastel pink calcites are slightly to moderately interlocked and strung out in a longer dimension. Individual crystals vary in size, from 1 to over 3 cm across, and are quite thin, 2 to 5 mm thick. All of them are coated with a later generation of saccharoidal calcite that glistens! The piece glows a vibrant red-orange in both short and long-wave UV! A showy and excellent cabinet piece from Pachapaqui! Jack purchased this from Brad Van Scriver in the 1980s when they came out. Learn more about this Manganoan Calcite specimen here.
An old but classic and fierce French siderite intertwined with sharp quartz needles
A classic, old-time, and superb combination specimen composed of large siderite rhombs associated with gemmy quartz from France. These came out in the 1800s and again in some small pockets later. However, this is the old style and as it was in the Smithsonian, we know it to be the older material. The iron mines of the famous French locality of Allevard, Rhône-Alpes, where pieces like this originate, date to the 1500s. Siderite such as this with its sharp form and golden color, was treasured among Victorian-era mineral collectors. The lustrous, translucent sharply formed siderite rhombs are a brownish olive-green and show partially stepped faces on some crystals. The siderites range in size from 0.7 to 2.3 cm on edge. They rest on water-clear, glassy, almost needle-like quartz crystals from 5 mm to 2 cm in length, that dominate one side of the piece and are mostly complete. A trace amount of edge wear on a few of the siderites at the periphery affects the excellent aesthetics very little. A great French siderite-quartz combination piece! Labels include Jack’s JH2267 which he purchased from Al McGuinness in the 1970s (his label notes that it is from the Smithsonian). Indeed, B9888 is glued/painted on the backside and this corresponds to the Carl Bosch Collection (1874-1940), of which you can read a great deal about. He was one of the greatest collectors of all time, with an emphasis on the best quality money could buy. Learn more about this Siderite specimen here.
New Updates from the Wayne Thompson Fluorite Collection
We are honored and happy to present our online customers with a selection of fluorites from the carefully curated Fluorite collection of our friend and IKONS book co-author, dealer, and collector Wayne Thompson. After 50 years, and more dealing in gem crystals, pegmatites, and major historic minerals of all sizes, Wayne finally decided to build a small collection, for himself. He worked for ten years to assemble a refined group of fluorites in the 2-3 inch range, (generally, although with some outliers) with complementary shapes and colors. He sought in his fluorites the same qualities he had in his dealings in 6 and 7-figure gem species crystals: balance, perfection, and beauty. These are not necessarily the most expensive fluorites in the size range, but all were selected for a balance of qualities and how they related to each other in a case. Stay tuned for more specimens to come at Tucson time.
Two ice cubes? Or is it two perfect glassy Dal’negorsk fluorite cubes interlocking together?
A famous style from the 1980s-1990s, these “ice cubes” are immediately recognizable in the fluorite world. Dal’negorsk fluorites are held in high esteem throughout the mineral world and with good reason. Both the water-clear and green fluorites are among the finest ever found. This pair of “invisible clear fluorites”, is composed of 2 rectangular prisms, the largest of which is a full 3 cm long. This is an unusual elongated habit for the locality and is quite attractive in its simplicity. The light etching on the faces gives the crystals visible form and substance so you can tell both the gemminess and the habit- at the same time. Associated with the fluorites are dozens of centimeter-long quartz spears that are scepters. You can see them impaling the fluorite crystals and framing them at each end like a small bouquet as if there is a garden within. A fine small cabinet specimen, originally from the Herb Obodda private collection. These are so colorless and perfect, that it is the ideal fluorite, chemically – that purity explains the colorlessness, compared to other fluorites colored by trace amounts of impurities. Learn more about this Fluorite specimen here.
A dramatic, world-class miniature specimen of sharp grape jelly purple fluorite cubes
The photos are self-explanatory here – this is a CLASSIC old-style YGX fluorite of the type that made the mine famous back in the 90s for sharp crystals, with color and clarity. It is so sharp it looks carved! Absolute perfection, transparency, and color, combined with razor-sharp edges and no damage make it a superlative, miniature for any locality. It is complete all around contacted only on the back as it stands. Unlike most purple fluorites, it is so clean and transparent, it needs no backlighting at all. Probably from the 1990s although some few crystals of this quality were found, rarely, since. Learn more about this Fluorite specimen here.
Fluorite from Yaogangxian Mine, Yizhang Co., Chenzhou, Hunan, China.
Miniature, 4.9 x 3.8 x 2.5 cm. Ex. Wayne Thompson
photo by László Kupi
New Updates from the Mixed Minerals Gallery
Explore an extraordinary selection of fine worldwide mineral specimens. Discover beautiful minerals from across the globe, perfect for collectors and growing collections. Don’t miss the chance to add unique one-of-a-kind beauties to your collection!
A stunningly alluring Tourmaline full of timeless turquoise seas and endless skies
One of the rarest of- rare tourmaline colors, this shocking neon blue color of tourmaline only came out of a few pockets in Afghanistan and is as close to Paraiba blue from Brazil as you can get. The saturation and hue remind me of the children’s red-blue-white ice “bomb pop” popsicle bars from the old ice cream trucks. No repairs and complete all around, plus the color speaks for itself here! 23 grams. Learn more about this Tourmaline specimen here.
A striking cluster of radiant green flowering Fluorapophyllite crystals on Stilbite
This is a superb and rare, completely exposed “flower” of the most intensely colored mint green apophyllite crystals- that you can ask for. While common as a species, specimens like this, with such prestigious color, luster, and complete-all-around terminated crystal clusters, are rare. On matrix takes it to another level! Lastly, it has a contrasting white stilbite for a sharp contrast and this adds even more to the aesthetics and importance of the specimen for examples of this species in the size range. For the size, this is a superb example- hard to beat. The cluster is just under 5 cm across just under 4 cm tall, shown horizontally. Learn more about this Fluorapophyllite specimen here.
Fluorapophyllite and Stilbite from Pune Dist., Maharashtra, India.
Small Cabinet, 6.7 x 5.4 x 4.0 cm
New Updates from the 2024 Holiday Sale
Shop our best sale of the year: so good this year that Rob fought us on the offerings! The team prevailed and we are super excited to offer a large selection of hand-picked goodies for our customers at discounts UP TO 30% off (priced as marked)! The sale runs through December 31, 2024.
A scintillating architectural cluster of Hematite ps. Magnetite from the late 90’s.
This is a stunning, unusual specimen of Hematite pseudomorph (replacement) after original magnetite crystals, from a major discovery in the late 1990s at a volcanic vent that produced these probably recently, in geologic time. They are unique, sculpturally, in all the world – and although production came out in several batches over the late 1990s and early 2000s, only a very few pockets produced the most desired combination of large crystals, aesthetics, and the metallic shiny surface sparkle you should see here on the video. While many are a bit smaller and less expensive, this one is a rare and larger size that commands visual respect and has a dramatic, vertical shape and sparkles all – over. It is in the top percentile, maybe the top few dozen pieces, out of hundreds. I was there when they first came out, through Argentine dealers in the late 1990s and then through San Diego dealer John Attard who was helping them come to market. He had the best of them, now over 20 years ago, and I would bet this is from that age. Until recently, in the Keith Proctor and then the Scott Rudolph collections. Learn more about this Hematite ps. Magnetite specimen here.
Hematite ps. Magnetite from Payún Matrú Volcano, Agua Escondida Dist., Mendoza, Argentina
Cabinet, 12.0 x 5.7 x 5.3 cm. Ex. Scott Rudolph
Teal dreams come to life in this captivatingly electric miniature-sized cuprian Adamite. This fine miniature specimen features a long series of clustered teal adamite formations zigzagging back and forth along the gossan matrix. These bright, lustrous jewels were found during “COVID-era” mining efforts in Lavrion which, has been a major mining district in Greece for centuries. Learn more about this Cuprian Adamite specimen here.
A robust and glassy jewel of twinned gemmy golden-amber Calcite from Kazakhstan.
This magnificent, large, gem clear, pristine, golden-amber, interpenetrating twinned calcite crystal comes on just a tad of matrix from Rudny, Kazakhstan – like a jewel! More gemmy in person, this beautiful, robust, and juicy Calcite is complete all-around and has the best amber color and transparency characteristic of this locality! It consists of one dominant Calcite crystal with a smaller one that is almost completely absorbed by the larger one and is barely discernible. Crystal faces are pronounced and perfect! One of the better examples of the size range from historic finds of the 1990s. Ex. Gene and Roz Meieran collection with label. Learn more about this Calcite specimen here.