Description

This specimen hosts several glassy very pale blue aquamarine crystals, but the reason it is so cool is the form of main featured central crystal. On a worldwide basis, tabular aquamarines are not common, but of course we are used to seeing the beautiful tabular crystals from Mt. Xuebaoding. And yet, these crystals are normally short prisms, with evident prism faces. The central crystal on this specimen has such minute prism faces that without close inspection it appears as though it is comprised of only basal pinacoids and bipyramidal faces. When you hold examine it carefully you can see that the crystal does in fact have prism faces, but because they are so small, the overall impression is amazing – this crystal has an awesome shape for a beryl! (The other beryls have small prism faces as well – proportionally a little bit larger than those on the central crystal – they too are great for crystal form).

In excellent condition, the main crystal is pristine from the front (minute edge chips visible from the back). The rest of the beryls are without damage except for one small chip to a small crystal. The large crystal at the front is not damaged at the base – it’s development was just truncated the way it grew. Some of the accompanying muscovite mica crystals are incomplete/bruised, but they are hardly the point – this piece is about that one mesmerizing aqua. The beryl crystals are sharp, brilliantly glassy and translucent with some transparency.

A super specimen, particularly if you love great morphology.