AQUAMARINE
Specimen aqu-13
$ 90.00Dims: 3.0" x 2.8" x 2.5" (7.6 x 7.1 x 6.4 cm)
Wt: 15.5 oz. (439 g)
NAGAR, Northwest Frontier Province, Pakistan
This specimen consists of a rather large, thick Aquamarine crystal that is partially buried in a crust of intergrown albite and muscovite crystals, a commmon matrix material for Pakistani specimens. The crystal measures 1.6" (4.1 cm) long and 0.8" (2.0 cm) in diameter, and has no detectable damage. It has excellent hexagonal prismatic form with a basal termination face that is truncated by rather complex secondary faces, and it has very well-defined edges and clean, smooth faces that show off its vitreous luster. Its color is a pale blue-green and it is transparent but has many veil-like inclusions that interfere with its clarity. Nonetheless, one can see a considerable depth into the crystal. There are other portions of large crystals adjacent to this one, but they are heavily damaged and broken. The crust of albite and muscovite that partially envelops the Aquamarine covers a host rock that appears to be made up of very finely-grained massive albite that is intermixed with equally fine muscovite. This host rock contains what appear to be either black tourmaline or epidote crystals that show a definite form but are mostly buried and rather heavily broken. This is one of the more impressive Aquamarine specimens that we have with respect to crystal size.