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Hester Diamond Auction
  
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Matt_Zukowski
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PostPosted: Jan 25, 2021 00:36    Post subject: Hester Diamond Auction  

There is an auction that people may want to be aware of (or be entertained by watching). Hester Diamond was an art dealer/collector and interior designer who also collected some mineral specimens. Some of her art and furniture, and all of her minerals, are right now being auctioned by Sotheby's:
https://www.sothebys.com/en/digital-catalogues/fearless-the-collection-of-hester-diamond-part-ii?locale=en

My favorite specimen being auctioned is a Huanzala fluorite on pyrite.

Hester's collection was shown in the Collections of the North East supplemental edition of Min Rec. Hester was a very interesting person. Just check out how she displayed her minerals, and how they fit into her colorful/eclectic apartment. There is a bunch of biographical information spread over the Sotheby's pages describing this auction if you are interested.

I am curious - how many of you knew about this auction?
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James Catmur
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PostPosted: Jan 25, 2021 07:13    Post subject: Re: Hester Diamond Auction  

I did not know about it. But that might be because I do not buy in auctions

Matt_Zukowski wrote:

I am curious - how many of you knew about this auction?
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Carles Millan
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PostPosted: Jan 25, 2021 08:34    Post subject: Re: Hester Diamond Auction  

Matt_Zukowski wrote:
I am curious - how many of you knew about this auction?

Even a collector who lives just 50 m from Hester Diamond's home has known it from me, at 6,300 km away. Wonders of the net.
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John Betts




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PostPosted: Jan 25, 2021 09:49    Post subject: Re: Hester Diamond Auction  

My favorite line is the catalog (for Lot 265, Cuprosklodowskite) is:

"Note: As a secondary uranium mineral, this specimen may have a small amount of residual radioactivity..."

That species is among the hottest radioactive minerals known.

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PostPosted: Jan 25, 2021 09:56    Post subject: Re: Hester Diamond Auction  

The other interesting thing in the auction is "A Fine Pink Smithsonite, Sinaloa, Mexico, USA"

Aside from Mexico not being a part of the USA (yet), is that the specimen was illustrated in Mineral Collections of the North East supplement to Min Rec. as from "Kelly Mine, New Mexico" which was clearly in error, and the dealer that sold it, and Min. Rec. editors should have known better.

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John S. White
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PostPosted: Jan 25, 2021 10:18    Post subject: Re: Hester Diamond Auction  

Perhaps you can fault her curator John Trinchillo
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PostPosted: Jan 25, 2021 14:54    Post subject: Re: Hester Diamond Auction  

John Betts wrote:
My favorite line is the catalog (for Lot 265, Cuprosklodowskite) is:

"Note: As a secondary uranium mineral, this specimen may have a small amount of residual radioactivity..."

That species is among the hottest radioactive minerals known.


Nevertheless, if they are looking at it from the viewpoint of those synthetic isotopes that cause real concern among security agencies, then the "small amount" statement is true, because even the hottest natural minerals are pitifully weak compared to industrially used isotopes.
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PostPosted: Jan 25, 2021 15:05    Post subject: Re: Hester Diamond Auction  

I think there might be another 'hot' specimen in there - but hard to prove

alfredo wrote:
John Betts wrote:
My favorite line is the catalog (for Lot 265, Cuprosklodowskite) is:

"Note: As a secondary uranium mineral, this specimen may have a small amount of residual radioactivity..."

That species is among the hottest radioactive minerals known.


Nevertheless, if they are looking at it from the viewpoint of those synthetic isotopes that cause real concern among security agencies, then the "small amount" statement is true, because even the hottest natural minerals are pitifully weak compared to industrially used isotopes.
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PostPosted: Jan 29, 2021 16:03    Post subject: Re: Hester Diamond Auction  

OMG - what hammer prices...
Sensitive early indicators of inevitable inflation or just too many first time buyers?
Admittedly, this 80k Emerald specimen must obviously look like THE ultimative bargain to someone interested in multi-million old master paintings. But after all, the paintings do not show multiple fissures (or have at least gone through a good lab);-)
And all these glued Spanish Pyrites - OMG again, again and again:-(
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PostPosted: Jan 29, 2021 16:12    Post subject: Re: Hester Diamond Auction  

minsur wrote:
OMG - what hammer prices...
Sensitive early indicators of inevitable inflation or just too many first time buyers?
Admittedly, this 80k Emerald specimen must obviously look like THE ultimative bargain to someone interested in multi-million old master paintings. But after all, the paintings do not show multiple fissures (or have at least gone through a good lab);-)
And all these glued Spanish Pyrites - OMG again, again and again:-(

Regardless the external fissures, this 80k+ emerald (not including commissions and fees) might also have gone through a good lab. We simply don't know.
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minsur




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PostPosted: Jan 29, 2021 16:26    Post subject: Re: Hester Diamond Auction  

Indeed - you are perfectly right. Who knows in these times...
But I think in a good lab, they would have "cured" at least the thick through-going fissure with its suspicious looking triangle.
Anyway, the Pyrites do not look as if they had spent too many time in the lab;-)))
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PostPosted: Jan 29, 2021 16:49    Post subject: Re: Hester Diamond Auction  

minsur wrote:
Indeed - you are perfectly right. Who knows in these times...
But I think in a good lab, they would have "cured" at least the thick through-going fissure with its suspicious looking triangle.
Anyway, the Pyrites do not look as if they had spent too many time in the lab;-)))

... agree, the triangle is suspiciously messy. Maybe labs at the time this specimen was acquired were not as good as they are today?
Would be interesting to see this specimen again in a couple of years' time.
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