This specimen is to me one of the most elegant fluorites I have ever handled. It has so much contrast: of the sharp cubic form so unlikely to be perched atop curving barites; of the stunning purple color set against a chalky white pedestal; and of the clarity and gemminess contrasted to the opaque barites on which this crystal sits. The piece is a very large miniature at 5.5 cm, but if you tilted it back slightly for display it would meet "competition miniature" sizing. Properly perhaps, it is a small, small cabinet piece. The crystal is 2.2 cm by 2 cm on front, and extends at most 2 cm deep to the rear. The back face is contcted , but the fluorite and barite are pristine on the display face, the three other sides. The specimen was perhaps for 2 decades in the miniatures collection of ultra-picky collector (i mean that as a compliment), Steve Smale, known for his finicky taste for pure perfection when at all possible. He exchanged it long ago to another local collector in the Bay Area, Steve Smith, from whom I have recently obtained it. I LOVE the rock. I think the one sharp picture (Joe Budd photo) says it all. This piece is simple but complex at the same time, full of subtlety, and leaps out to me. It is, admittedly, probably the most expensive Berbes miniature on the planet, but then I paid a lot to pry it out of the collection it was in, and I really do value it so highly in my estimation of its quality and visual impact.
Attribution: Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0
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