Fluorite with Baryte and Galena (polished egg)

We rarely feature polished specimens and almost unprecedented as a polished egg, but exceptions do have to be made when necessary. This beautifully produced example is about the size of a real hen’s egg, composed of Fluorite with Baryte and Galena. As soon as you see structures in the polished surface, clearly representing cubic Fluorite crystals, it instantly has that certain “Derbyshire” appearance! The original specimen is from the seldom encountered Smalldale quarry near Bradwell, approximately 2 km southeast of Castleton and adjacent to the much larger Earl’s quarry and well known landmark of the Hope Cement Works. This egg was probably made by a member of the Peak Lapidary and Mineral Society (PLMS), organisers of The Bakewell Rock Exchange.