Munich 50th Anniversary Show

28 October 2013

Another year has gone almost without trace and we find ourselves back at the familiar surroundings of Europe's biggest mineral, Fossil and Gemstone fair.

MUNICH 2013
50th ANNIVERSARY

This year is a little special being the 50th Anniversary of the show and to celebrate what better way than to include a special exhibit of Gold.

And what a display!
Some of the finest and most spectacular natural examples of crystallised gold from the natural world have been displayed from private and international collections alike. A feast for the eyes, dare I say - a wonderland.
We'll feature this exhibition a little later but first a little about some of the great things Crystal Classics and Kristalle have brought to the show.

The team arrived after the long journey from Somerset, England by road on Tuesday and immediately began the process of setting up the show.
The weather in Munich is in great contrast to what we experienced last year. Warm temperatures and sunshine have blessed us for most of our visit. This time last year we were contemplating navigating through snow for our return journey.

This year all twelve of our trademark classic glass show cabinets were loaded and it wasn't long before the booth began to take shape.

The interior of one of the halls before set up.

One of our vans parked as closely as we could to facilitate unloading.

Dave Lloyd (AKA LLoydy)…. On a mission!

At most venues our set up goes smoothly. Occasionally we have a hitch.
Dave Spiller trying his hardest to avoid electric shock while correcting a lighting fault. The rewards for success are clearly visible!

A valuable new addition to our team - Verity (Ian’s daughter) helps him sort through some of our British mineral selection.

Peter Schlegel and Verity performing one of the most important parts of set up – glass door and shelf cleaning for the cabinets, with Wayne Leicht looking on.

Wayne and Peter enjoying a light hearted moment.

Dave Hacker takes over for a while.

Left to right: Diana Schlegel, Peter Schlegel, Liz Hacker and Katrin Schlegel.

Liz Hacker begins the task of loading the mineral specimens and positioning them to best advantage.

Dave Whipp gets a masterclass in display techniques from a pro – Dave Spiller (AKA “Spillage”).

Some of the mineral specimens lined up in preparation for display.

Three great Fluorite specimens - two British, one Chinese. 

All the Girls hard at work on the display – Lois Nelson, Audrey Lloyd, Diana Schlegel and Liz Hacker.

The long awaited end result.

One of our display cabinets filled with worldwide mineral specimens.

Diana Schlegel with Ian Bruce – “The Crystal Classics”.

A well earned break – Dave Hacker and Dave Spiller.

This year at Munich we brought our usual selection of fine worldwide mineral specimens which included items from some recently acquired collections - classic and old time mineral specimens from across Europe as well as a fine selection of minerals from the Tsumeb Mine. Here are just two of our cabinets after completing the display and to follow a selection of some of the individual pieces we have for sale.

Please remember that not all of these items will sell at the show so if you are unable to attend and there is anything here that interests you, please do not hesitate to contact us and we will advise you if we still have that item.

Contact: oders@crystalclassics.co.uk

We have recently been able to acquire a number of fine mineral specimens from Iran. In this cabinet we displayed some of the finest.
Cool blue Hemimorphite specimens with some of the best Fluorites we have seen from Iran, together with lustrous crystallised Epidotes and some unique Calcite coated Wulfenite specimens.

A selection of colourful world wide specimens including a gem clean twinned crystal of Yellow Spodumene from Afghanistan at the top with a variety of Tourmaline and Fluorite specimens.

Here are some of the individual specimens:

Amethyst from Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada.

A crazy and wonderful specimen. I don’t think any photograph could do this specimen justice. A Calcite crystal with epitaxial growth of tiny Goethites positioned in lines along the crystal edges, the whole perched neatly upon a small bed of richly coloured Amethyst from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

Another Amethyst. This time hollow, in the form of a stalactitic crust of tiny lustrous crystal points from Balikesir Province, Marmara Region, Turkey.

A classic from Scotland. Pale creamy coloured 2” crystal of Anglesite from Leadhills, South Lanarkshire, Scotland.

Another classic, this time from Portugal.  
A translucent lilac disc of Fluorapatite sitting neatly on a bed of Muscovite from Panasqueira, Covilhã, Castelo Branco District, Portugal.

Delicate puffballs of blue Aurichalcite from 79 Mine, Hayden area, Banner District, Gila Co., Arizona, USA.

A closer look at one of the Iranian Specimens. This bed of orange yellow Wulfenite crystals is almost entirely coated with near pure white globular calcite.
From Ahmad Abad mine, Baha Abad area, Bafq, Yazd Province, Iran.

From Central America this Cadmium rich Smithsonite specimen shows good lustre and form. Choix, Sinaloa, Mexico. 

Blue Chalcedony from Ray Mine, Dripping Spring Mts, Pinal Co., Arizona, USA.

Rounded rhombohedral pink Cobaltoan Smithsonite crystals up to 10mm on matrix from The Tsumeb Mine, Otjikoto Region, Namibia.

A pretty pink cluster of Cobaltoan Smithsonite crystals again from the Tsumeb Mine, Otjikoto Region, Namibia. This time composed of interlocking thin bladed crystals.

A delicate thin shell of tiny Cuprian Smithsonite crystals forming a cast - from the Tsumeb Mine, Otjikoto Region, Namibia. 

Great combination of Rosasite with Calcite on Dioptase from Tsumeb Mine, Otjikoto Region, Namibia.

One of the nicest specimens of Anatase on Quartz I have seen in a while. The central Quartz crystal rises more than 4” from the base and is encrusted in metallic steel blue coloured bi-pyramidal Anatase crystals. From Hardangervidda, Hordaland, Norway.

We’ve seen a number of these Fluorites from China in recent times but this is particularly appealing.
Lilac coloured octohedral crystals with inky blue edges on matrix.
from De'an Co., Jiujiang Prefecture, Jiangxi Province, China.

Another Fluorite - this time translucent blue cubes perched neatly on Matrix in association with Baryte from Ardestan County, Esfahan Province, Iran.

A rich dense crystallised native Gold specimen from Round Mountain Mine, Nye county, Nevada, USA.

Linarite with pale blue Chrysocolla from the Blanchard Mine, Bingham, Socorro County, New Mexico, USA.

Another Tsumeb specimen. Pale yellow, almost colourless needles of Mimetite resting on Cuprite with Copper.
Tsumeb Mine, Otjikoto Region, Namibia.

A large example of Pyromorphite from the classic Bunker Hill Mine, Kellogg, Idaho, USA.

A rare strawberry-red coloured Rhodochrosite from Hambach - Gückingen area, Diez, Lahn valley, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.

For most of us interested in minerals these are now a familiar site. This is a particularly aesthetic example of the Quartz, Spessartine Garnet combination from Tongbei, Fujian Province, China.

Smoky Quartz with Colourless Topaz from Adun-Cholon Range, Nerchinsk, Chitinskaya Oblast', Transbaikalia, Eastern-Siberian Region, Russia.

Delicate sharp, square interlocking yellow tablets of Wulfenite in association with Duftite from Tsumeb Mine, Otjikoto Region, Namibia.

Liz Hacker in traditional dress chatting with Simon Harrison.

A special exhibition of historic scientific instruments designed for mineralogical purposes was displayed in one of the halls. These are now rare instruments and to see them in such fine condition is a wonder.
Here are just three of them with a little explaining their use from the panels that accompanied each.

This old brass refractometer uses a prism to measure the refractive index of crystals. The principles of operation are still used in modern optical tools used by Gemmologists the world over.

 

A variation on the Refractometer  - The Abbe Hemispherical Refractometer.

Petrological Microscope with Universal Stage Goniometers designed for the measurement of optical angles.

Closer view of universal assembly with rock thin section in place. The slice can be rotated in any direction to obtain and measure the positions of the optic axes and angles between them.

The booth of Morelli Federico had a display of superb blue violet Fluorite specimens that he and colleagues had recently discovered and mined. The eye catching display included historic mining equipment as well as large and impressive examples of the Fluorite discovered at Zogno (BG) Italy.

Large Fluorite specimen resting on the remains of a mining ore tub with mining drill to the right.

One of the impressive large Fluorite specimens on display with antique miners tunnel lamps hanging at the back.

Three of the smaller Fluorite specimens backlit to show the colour, all resting on a natural stone block. 

The 50th Anniversary show this year at Munich was highlighted by a stunning exhibition of Gold specimens. 

Here are some of the things that were on display:

The display Cabinet of private collector Christian Weise.

One of the great Gold specimens in Christian’s showcase – from the Eagles Nest Mine, California, USA

Golds in the showcase of the Natural History Museum of Vienna, Austria.

A thin crystallised specimen of Gold from California displayed by Harvard University Museum.

Another great specimen displayed by Harvard University Museum - Gold from Breckenridge District, Summit County, Colorado, USA.

Part of the display put on by the Natural History Museum in London showing a letter to Sir Arthur Russell that accompanied the Gold nugget specimen in the picture – complete with sketch of where it was found by John Blackwood.

The LaTrobe Nugget from Mount McIvor, Victoria, Australia.

Superb British Gold specimen belonging to Gail and Jim Spann.

A closer look at the crystallised growth of the Gold on the Hope's Nose specimen above.

A crystallised gold specimen known as the "Corsage"  from the Red Ledge Mine, Washington, Nevada County, California, USA. owned by Wayne and Dona Leicht.

A closer look at the Red Ledge Gold Specimen. Note the Quartz crystal attached at the bottom. 

In one of the other halls a small display of Alpine minerals could be viewed giving an insight into this branch of mineral collecting. There were a number of dealers selling high quality and affordable Alpine specimens. This large specimen of Hematite from the Cavradi Gorge in Switzerland caught my eye mainly because a large part of the Alpine cleft housing these crystals and the host schist was present.

A closer look at the lustrous Hematite blades in the crevice of the schist.

Alpine Quartz crystals and a bed of smoky Quartz crystals again from the Swiss Alps.

More alpine Quartz crystals.

Evenings at the events are the times when you most want to relax after a long day setting up or selling (hopefully) and in my experience most mineral dealers do it in style (Usually with the help of fluid refreshment):

Katrin, Diana and Ian enjoying local beer and wine in the hotel/restaurant.

LLoydy and Spillage deep in conversation.

Audrey with Verity, hiding from the camera.

In traditional costume ready for the party.
(L to R) Dave Spiller, Liz Hacker, Dave Whipp and Dave Hacker.

John Veevaert enjoying the show.

LLoydy having a heart to heart with Dave bunk (Yes, another Dave!!)

Dave Hacker and Ian Bruce soaking up the atmosphere? .......... no, just soaking!

And finally Tomasz Praszkier of Spirifer Minerals - tempted by another?

That's it for this year's Munich - the 50th Jubilee and definitely one to remember.
For those of you who have yet to visit the Munich show, when you eventually come, be prepared - there is so much to see and enjoy.
We'll be back next year with cabinets full of new minerals and looking forward to meeting all our friends again.

Tucson - here we come!

Author: Dave Whipp
Categories: News & Information