FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[David]

It happens once in a while that I come across some rocks that I want really badly in my collections but for some reason or another I’m unable to make the purchase. Then I wonder if I will ever find something as good again. Ok, no regrets, I will find other interesting rocks, but still...
There are several that got away, for example a nice barite with realgar inclusions, a large thick stibnite, a perfect crocoite, an amazing purple-green fluorite, just to name a few. On the other hand, I was lucky to grab my hand on other amazing pieces. So I guess that compensates. Collecting is also about the thrill of the hunt.

What’s your rock that got away?

[Don Lum]

TNTC

(Too numerous to count) ;-)

[chris]

Hi David,

My rock that went away eventually came back. While in Colorado I visited a famous mineral dealer in the Denver Metro. He showed me a couple of red rocks he thought I would be interested in. I really liked one of them but as I couldn't afford it at that time, he sold it to another collector.

A few years later I saw that very specimen for sale on his website. This time I was able to buy it. So the specimen was back again. Of course, this is a one time experience (to tell the truth a 2 times experience as it happened for another rock too). For the others I missed: there are just too many of them to worry about.

You are right, collecting is more about hunting, than anything else. For most of us the best rock is the one you don't yet have in your collection.

Chris.

[David]

Don,

Is this list increasing or decreasing? :)))

[David]

Chris,

You were lucky! Twice? :)
It was meant to be, those rocks were looking for you!
I don't feel that lucky. Time will tell.

[Don Lum]

[Peter Megaw]

Gotta agree with Don...TMTC.

But the ones that come back are really memorable. I bought this pyrite pseudomorph after pyrrhotite at Santa Eulalia in about 1988 and someone liberated it before I got home. About 20 years later I found it for sale at a small regional show and promptly bought it again....probably for about 20x what I originally gave for it!

We live in a very small world sometimes

[Carl]

A magnificent, large cabinet quartz and hematite from Chubb Lake, New York. At the St. Lawrence County, New York show 20+ years ago. Most dealers/sellers were outside, it was bad weather, and very few people were present at the time. The price was at the very top end of what I had ever spent for a specimen, and I went to the next booth to think about it. Less than ten minutes later I went to buy it and it was gone. I actually thought the lady was pulling my leg, it had been so short of a period of time that had passed. I have seen thousands of Chubb Lake specimens, but can honestly say it was the best one I ever had my hands on.

There is another FMF thread also just started about dreaming about minerals.This specimen is one of the few I have ever dreamt about; many times.

[Bob Morgan]

After a couple got away, I've developed a strategy. Usually the dealer will put it aside for me overnight - " to pray over". I can check my databases for how it would fit in my collection and do a 'gut check' to see if I really want it for that price. My ultimate question after my eyes alight on something special is: Would I feel bad if it got away?
Most decisions after answering this question have proved right over the years, and hardly ever does a prized one get away.
'Just miss that 3/8ths inch spinel twin of gold I walked away from because it was $135.

[Tobi]

There are several rocks that got away, both because I didn't purchase them or because I sold them and later regretted that decisions ...

... the perfect 5 cm specimen of Tsumeb dioptase with a nearly 1 cm crystal I didn't buy some years ago because I already spent my budget, some time later it was sold ... it was simply perfect :-(

... same story with a stunning 15 cm cluster of transparent yellow quartz from Nepal a few years ago. It would have been in my budget if I had not bought other specimens. I so much wish I had purchased that spectacular quartz from Nepal :-(

... the beautiful and large 20 cm fluorite from West Pasture Mine with clear crystals that I returned because my space was limited and I already had a fluorite from that mine ... actually I should have kept that large one, it was the better one :-(

... the outstanding 10 cm Picher Field galena specimen with perfect crystals up to 4 cm that I sold because I was glad about the money that allowed me to purchase other specimens ... until today I regret it because I miss that perfect galena specimen :-(

... the large showy specimen of almandine from the Austrian Alps ... same story as the one with the Picher Field galena :-(

... the classic Freiberg fluorite with a large twin that I sold because I thought I would not miss it :-(

Fortunately not "TMTC" but nevertheless bad decisions! It comforts me to hear that I'm not alone :-)

Regards
Tobi

[Fiebre Verde]

The most vivid experience in my case is a specimen that didn’t really get away but took a couple of years to get into my collection.
I started attending the Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines mineral show in the early 2000s and one of the highlights of the show was the booth of Roger Titeux, a famous French mineral dealer from Nancy (Eastern France).
Mr. Titeux was already in his late 80s when I first met him in SMAM and the dominant colors in his booth were green and blue - Emerald green and Euclase blue.
In the 2005 show, a very large emerald specimen from Coscuez with a mix of dark gray and colorless calcite caught my eye, but when asked, Mr. Titeux told me it was not for sale.
I found out that Mr. Titeux had actually several pieces on display that he wanted to go for his children.
Useless to say that over the following years, I made Mr. Titeux several offers for that specimen but his answer was invariably the same.
I met him last in the 2009 show when he was in his mid-90s. “My” specimen was still on display in his booth but his "no" was weaker than in the previous years.
Roger Titeux passed away a few months later at the age of 96.
A year later, I was contacted by a French dealer who had some acquaintance with the family. The rest is history.
Gerard

[Jesse Fisher]

Not having unlimited funds, or unlimited storage space for the collection, I long ago reconciled myself to this situation, and try not to think about it too much. I guess the one thing that still comes to mind once in a while are the really good ones from the Rogerley that we had to sell to raise money for the operation. I sometimes wonder where they ended up. Not that it really matters, as I am sure I could never afford to by them back should they become available!

[chris]

[Don Lum]

[Tobi]

Incredibly beautiful Rogerley masterpiece, Jesse. I hope it found a good place in the collection of someone who really cherishes it ...
And Chris, you can be glad about this boomerang, this is such a wonderful specimen!