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Philippe Durand
Joined: 10 May 2016
Posts: 652
Location: Normandie
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Tobi
Site Admin
Joined: 07 Apr 2009
Posts: 4235
Location: Germany
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 Posted: Mar 16, 2021 04:48 Post subject: Re: Collection of Tobi |
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Thank you, Philippe, indeed a good catch :-)
You're right, I think every collector has his/her special "dream minerals", and an Australian opal of that quality was my dream for 30 years. You know I love well-defined crystals like quartz, fluorite, beryl, tourmaline or galena the most and opal hasn't even a crystal structure, but this enchanting beauty of precious opal makes it one of the most desirable minerals for me.
Somehow an amazing natural coincidence that this mostly rather unimposing and greyish mineral without any symmetry or spectacular form can turn into such a beautiful gem just by some diffraction of light. I know how opals form and what's behind the play of colours, I don't believe in magic and I'm an atheist, but if there's something like a "supernatural" or "magical" rock - it's precious opal ;-)
Best regards
Tobi
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Tobi
Site Admin
Joined: 07 Apr 2009
Posts: 4235
Location: Germany
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| Posted: Apr 12, 2021 12:10 Post subject: Re: Collection of Tobi |
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Common stuff, but a quite large and impressive specimen:
| Mineral: | Quartz (variety amethyst), Calcite |
| Locality: | | Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil |  |
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| Dimensions: | Specimen size 28 cm, calcite aggregate 8 cm |
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11433 Time(s) |
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Carles Millan
Site Admin
Joined: 05 May 2007
Posts: 1531
Location: Catalonia
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| Posted: Apr 12, 2021 12:49 Post subject: Re: Collection of Tobi |
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| Tobi wrote: | | Common stuff, but a quite large and impressive specimen: |
An uncommon association with a very nice color contrast. Good choice!
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jose luis jara jara
Joined: 18 Apr 2019
Posts: 118
Location: Fuenlabrada
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| Posted: Apr 12, 2021 13:56 Post subject: Re: Collection of Tobi |
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| Tobi wrote: | | The newest addition means really something special to me. Since my interest in minerals began as a child (30 years ago) and I read some mineral books for the first time, I dreamed of once having an Australian precious opal. This was maybe my first mineral desire, long before I even developed knowledge and preferences for that hobby; it was rather love at first sight ;-) I think many people feel some "magic" when they first see the surreal colour play of a good opal; and back in the early 90s, 8 or 9 year old Tobi was mesmerized by those "magical" rocks from the Australian outback. Knowing that good specimens from Australia are quite expensive, I never really expected to find a nice and larger specimen for me, but now I could finally fulfill that desire I had for 30 years and I'm really really happy to add that beautiful specimen to my collection: |
What a beautiful opal, is the black opal variety?
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Tobi
Site Admin
Joined: 07 Apr 2009
Posts: 4235
Location: Germany
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| Posted: Apr 13, 2021 03:44 Post subject: Re: Collection of Tobi |
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| jose luis jara jara wrote: | | Tobi wrote: | | The newest addition means really something special to me. Since my interest in minerals began as a child (30 years ago) and I read some mineral books for the first time, I dreamed of once having an Australian precious opal. This was maybe my first mineral desire, long before I even developed knowledge and preferences for that hobby; it was rather love at first sight ;-) I think many people feel some "magic" when they first see the surreal colour play of a good opal; and back in the early 90s, 8 or 9 year old Tobi was mesmerized by those "magical" rocks from the Australian outback. Knowing that good specimens from Australia are quite expensive, I never really expected to find a nice and larger specimen for me, but now I could finally fulfill that desire I had for 30 years and I'm really really happy to add that beautiful specimen to my collection: |
What a beautiful opal, is the black opal variety? |
Hi Jose, no, the so-called black opal is one with a darker base colour (mostly deep blue), this one here is what is called boulder opal, the typical variety with a brighter base colour (grey to pale blue) and grown in brown matrix. I'm glad you like it :-)
| Carles Millan wrote: | | Tobi wrote: | | Common stuff, but a quite large and impressive specimen: |
An uncommon association with a very nice color contrast. Good choice! |
Hi Carles, thank you. Not really uncommon, the deposits in Rio Grande do Sul (e.g. Ametista do Sul or Iraí) produce masses of calcite/amethyst specimens. But nonetheless some of them are really good material and I like this one for its size and shape with that large calcite cluster on top :-)
The next specimen is a true highlight for me, a large and awesome combination of fluorite and calcite from China:
| Mineral: | Fluorite, Calcite |
| Locality: | | Xianghualing Mine, Xianghualing Sn-polymetallic ore field, Linwu, Chenzhou Prefecture, Hunan Province, China | |
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| Dimensions: | Specimen height 18 cm, largest fluorite 3,5 cm, largest calcite 5 cm |
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13348 Time(s) |
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Tobi
Site Admin
Joined: 07 Apr 2009
Posts: 4235
Location: Germany
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| Posted: Apr 25, 2021 07:55 Post subject: Re: Collection of Tobi |
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An older specimen that I improved by trimming some matrix. Actually something I don't do that often because of the risk to damage a specimen, but that matrix here was quite easy to work with. I hope the result is ok.
| Mineral: | Lazurite |
| Locality: | | Ladjuar Medam, Sar-e Sang, Koksha Valley, Khash & Kuran Wa Munjan Districts, Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan | |
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| Dimensions: | Specimen size 7 cm |
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13214 Time(s) |
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Tobi
Site Admin
Joined: 07 Apr 2009
Posts: 4235
Location: Germany
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| Posted: May 29, 2021 12:58 Post subject: Re: Collection of Tobi |
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The latest collection addition, a beautiful Brazilian tourmaline:
| Mineral: | Elbaite |
| Locality: | | Barra de Salinas, Coronel Murta, Vale do Jequitinhonha, Minas Gerais, Brazil | |
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| Dimensions: | Crystal height 4 cm |
| Description: |
| Photo © Anton Watzl Minerals |
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13051 Time(s) |
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Carles Millan
Site Admin
Joined: 05 May 2007
Posts: 1531
Location: Catalonia
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| Posted: May 29, 2021 14:41 Post subject: Re: Collection of Tobi |
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| Tobi wrote: | | The latest collection addition, a beautiful Brazilian tourmaline: |
A really nice Brazilian tourmaline. The green color is wonderful. And the faces at the top are perfect and very attractive. Good acquisition.
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Jean Suffert
Joined: 15 Feb 2021
Posts: 66
Location: Alsace
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| Posted: May 29, 2021 14:51 Post subject: Re: Collection of Tobi |
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| a beautiful well terminated elbaite, I love the colour. Congratulations Tobi
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Sante Celiberti
Joined: 04 Oct 2019
Posts: 699
Location: Tuscany
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| Posted: May 29, 2021 15:18 Post subject: Re: Collection of Tobi |
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I fully agree with Carles and Jean.
Congratulations, Tobi.
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Tobi
Site Admin
Joined: 07 Apr 2009
Posts: 4235
Location: Germany
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| Posted: May 30, 2021 02:24 Post subject: Re: Collection of Tobi |
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Thank you all for your comments, my friends, I'm glad you like that little gem as much as I do!
Stay safe & best regards
Tobi
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Tobi
Site Admin
Joined: 07 Apr 2009
Posts: 4235
Location: Germany
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| Posted: Jul 17, 2021 10:17 Post subject: Re: Collection of Tobi |
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A cute new quartz specimen from the U.S:
| Mineral: | Quartz |
| Locality: | | Ace of Diamonds Mine, Middleville, Town of Newport, Herkimer County, New York, USA | |
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| Dimensions: | Specimen height 6 cm, quartz crystals 17 mm & 11 mm |
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12487 Time(s) |
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Volkmar Stingl
Joined: 23 Sep 2012
Posts: 980
Location: Innsbruck
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| Posted: Jul 17, 2021 11:15 Post subject: Re: Collection of Tobi |
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Hello Tobi, a very nice piece! Do the crystals have small bitumen inclusions, or is this just the base, seen through the clear quartz?
Volkmar
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Tobi
Site Admin
Joined: 07 Apr 2009
Posts: 4235
Location: Germany
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| Posted: Jul 17, 2021 12:07 Post subject: Re: Collection of Tobi |
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| Volkmar Stingl wrote: | | Hello Tobi, a very nice piece! Do the crystals have small bitumen inclusions, or is this just the base, seen through the clear quartz? Volkmar |
Hi Volkmar, it's the base on the matrix, seen through the clear crystals. I'm glad you like it, here's another new specimen, classic fluorite from Germany:
| Mineral: | Fluorite |
| Locality: | | Clara Mine, Rankach Valley, Oberwolfach, Wolfach, Black Forest, Baden-Württemberg, Germany | |
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| Dimensions: | Specimen size 15 x 15 cm, largest crystals 16-18 mm |
| Description: |
| The crystals have a pale blueish hue and some of them have purple colour zones |
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12462 Time(s) |
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