$1,400.00 €1,183 £1,020.00 approx. This specimen is priced in US dollars, all other prices are approximate.
A superb specimen featuring the famous and very rare octahedral Garnets from Colle dell'Affaccata near to San Piero in Campo, on the island of Elba. This splendid specimen is composed of pale apricot-orange glassy Spessartine Garnet crystals overgrowing a rich bed of the rare pinkish-apricot octahedral Garnet crystals, of which there are an estimated 100 to 200. The rich patches of these two habits of garnet are surrounded by 2 to 3 mm bladed crystals of Muscovite mica which coat the top surface of a block of banded gneiss. The glassy Spessartine crystals are developed to about 5 mm and the octahedral crystals average 2 to 3 mm. The specimen is labelled as from San Piero in Campo, but we have been kindly informed by an expert on the area that the octahedral habit occurs at nearby Colle dell'Affaccata. See "L. Bombicci - Sul granato ottaedrico dell'Isola d'Elba".
Ex. the Mineral Collection of Archduke Stephan Franz Viktor of Hungary (1817 to 1867), with a historic Archduke (Erzherzog) Stephan label incorporating his coat of arms. This large label measures 9.9 x 8.1 cm and it complete (untrimmed) and is numbered 319/31. A small label bearing this same number is glued at one end of the specimen, together with a Carl Rumpff label, dated 1889. The large format Archduke label is in very good condition but has been folded once, leaving a single, off-centre, vertical crease. Also with this specimen is a hand written description of a similar specimen numbered 319/40. The description covers six lines and appears to be the same hand writing as on the Archduke Stephan label.