Description

This is a remarkable crystal of aqua-coloured montebrasite. It is from a find in the late 1970s at the Lavra da Ilha. I had certainly never seen montebrasite this colour from any locality until these old pieces came to light recently. Carlos Menezes acquired the small group of specimens (I understand the find was small and the crystals were just kept aside, until now), and most had complex etching – this is the one that actually displayed some well-defined crystal faces and really stood out for me. From the display angle this partial crystal is undamaged (the crystal is incomplete at the back, the underside and a bit at lower right).

This one is amazing – a one-of-a-kind specimen.