SPESSARTINE WITH HYALITE

 Choice small cabinet specimen of rich, crimson-red spessartine garnets with great presentation. The garnets are gemmy and super lustrous with stepped faces, highlighted by a 1.3 cm striated crystal in the center. What really sets this apart is a band of hyalite opal on the edge of the piece which pops a bright neon green when under shortwave UV light. This combination is seldom seen outside of Tongbei, and from there most examples are much less attractive. Even with all of the great spessartine to come out of the Wushan Mine, this one stands out as a particularly fine example. From the collection of Ken Roberts, the specimen comes with a label of his with an original price tag of $1,200.