Gemmes & Gemmologie

Wulfenite. Red Cloud Mine, Silver Dist., Trigo Mts., La Paz Co., Arizona, USA. Photo Heritage Auctions Wulfenite is a consistent member of all mineral collections with any pretensions to completeness. The bright red-orange of Wulfenite from TheRed Cloud Mine of Arizona, has generated a level of notoriety achieved by few other minerals. Wulfenite specimens considered "choice" possess some key characteristics: fine red-orange color with no hint of brown, multiple crystals with good crystal form and little or no damage,... [Lire la suite]

SPONDUMENE var. KUNZITE with IMPORTANT HISTORIC PROVENANCE. Photo Heritage Auctions. The jewelry firm of Tiffany and Company needs no introduction. It has provided jewels to the aristocracy, stained glass and art glass to collectors, medals to the military, and enough other items to make the turquoise blue "Tiffany" box instantly recognizable by millions of people worldwide. During the 160 years that Tiffany & Co. has existed, Tiffany employees sourced many of the exotic jewels incorporated in the their jewelry. That select... [Lire la suite]

RHODOCHROSITE "JEWEL". N'Chwaning Mine, Kalahari Manganese Fields, Northern Cape Province, South Africa. Photo Heritage Auctions. The element Manganese is an essential component of many modern necessities: everything from steel to dry cell batteries. Approximately 99.999999% of Manganese ores are BLACK. Not just a little black, but black enough to get Manganese miners banned from local Laundromats for washing their work clothes: this is not a joke. Evidently, Mother Nature took pity on this hard-working element and partially made... [Lire la suite]

RHODOCHROSITE "GEM". N'Chwaning Mine, Kuruman, Northern Cape Province, South Africa. Photo Heritage Auctions. This colorful specimen is from the original find at the N'Chwaning Mine, owned by Associated Manganese Mines of South Africa and now closed. Typical 'gemmy' scalenohedral crystal habit with associated secondary crystals flanking the main one, forming a sub-parallel aggregate. This specimen shows dark red, transparent color with the brown overtones normal for this material. The highly lustrous faces display faint striations... [Lire la suite]

PRECIOUS OPAL with IMPORTANT HISTORIC PROVENANCE. Virgin Valley, Humboldt County, Nevada, USA. Photo Heritage Auctions. Washington A. Roebling: chief engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge, soldier of the Union Army, devoted family man, and most important to this discussion: prolific collector of over 16,000 mineral, gem and meteorite specimens. His bridge building career included being involved with the Cincinnati-Covington Bridge, The Ojuela Mine Bridge, and the aforementioned Brooklyn Bridge. He was responsible for many technical... [Lire la suite]

AQUAMARINE. Medina, Jequitinhonha Valley, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Photo Heritage Auctions. Aquamarine, when found as "gem grade" crystals is normally turned into faceted stones within days of being mined. In 1997, an atypical series of coincidences came together when the 'pocket' containing this and other crystals was found and those coincidences resulted in a few specimens being saved from the cutters. The short form of that story involves: 1) Word leaking out that an exceptional find had recently been made, 2) a collector,... [Lire la suite]

PYROMORPHITE. Guilin Prefecture, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. Photo Heritage Auctions. This is somewhat of a mystery specimen for the simple reason that the alleged locality: "Wu Du, Guang Xi Province, China" does not correspond to any listed locality for this mineral. What is most probable is that the piece is from one of three places: the Daoping Mine in Gongcheng County, the Yangshuo Mine in Yangshuo County, or the least likely - the Lingchuan Mine in Lingchuan County. All of these localities are in Guilin Prefecture... [Lire la suite]

"La Madona Rosa". Lavra Berilo Branco, Sapucaia do Norte, Galiléia, Doce Valley, Minas Gerais, Brazil. 15.5 x 8 inches (39 x 20 cm). Estimate: $200,000 - $350,000. Photo Heritage Auctions DALLAS, TX.- The famed Rose Quartz La Madona Rosa specimen — a spectacular, wildly artistic piece of natural history, discovered by Brazilian miners in the 1950s and so named for its resemblance to traditional depictions of the Virgin Mary — is expected to bring $200,000+ as part of Heritage Auctions' landmark presentation of The... [Lire la suite]