Fluorapatite (beautiful bi-colored crystal)

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LOCATION: Golconda Pegmatite Field, Governador Valadares, Minas Gerais, Brazil

APPROXIMATE SIZE: Thumbnail, 2.0 x 1.8 x 1.7 cm

PREVIOUS COLLECTION: Ex. Dr. Vasco Trancoso

DESCRIPTION: 

Golconda is well-known for producing many beautiful mineral species, including some of the most richly colored purple Fluorapatites you'll find outside of the Pulsifer Quarry in Maine. These crystals are hard to find on the market now, as the last good pocket was found about a decade ago according to my sources.

This piece is a lovely thumbnail sized crystal with sharp, lustrous faces, good internal gemminess/translucency and it not only features a vivid purple hue, but it's actually bi-colored, showing a gorgeous sapphire blue shade internally.

When the crystal is backlit, you can see that the purple hue is actually restricted to the exterior edges, while the blue color occupies the majority of the interior of the crystal. The piece does have some dings on the termination, so it's not damage-free, but it's still quite eye-catching, and honestly looks better in person than the pictures or video might indicate.

It's also larger than the vast majority of the purple Apatites I've seen from Golconda as well, as most rarely reach 2 cm. 

From the collection of Vasco Trancoso, a medical doctor and prominent mineral collector from near Lisbon, Portugal