Description
Detailed Description
This specimen features an area of beautifully crystallized dioptase set perfectly across the top of the calcite. The dioptase crystals are sharp and glassy with bright lustre, remarkable for Altyn Tyube – they also have some good translucens with internal glow under the display lights. In excellent condition – a few small incomplete crystals, minor relative to the piece, (primarily at the edges of the cluster). The piece has been prepared using a saw with a cut uon the underside so that it stands perfectly as photographed. This is gorgeous piece – the best intense green and brililant lustre, and aesthetic overall composition sitting on the calcite.
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About These Dioptase Specimens
Dioptase was first described from Altyn Tyube, the type locality for dioptase, in the nineteenth century. Altyn Tyube is a remarkable deposit in the Steppes, far from everywhere. It was first worked for copper thousands of years B.C., and it is interesting to note that there are very few copper minerals at the locality – dioptase with occasional minor malachite and cuprite. These beautiful specimens were mined in 2015, acquired soon afterward from the team currently conducting specimen mining at Altyn Tyube.
