FLUORITE WITH MUSCOVITE

ABOUT THE SPECIMEN

Crowning the top of this ensemble is a lovely pale-pink (almost colorless), super gemmy crystal of fluorite, measuring 4.3cm, embedded right into the surrounding silver muscovite. It has excellent placement - comfortably perched and yet nicely exposed - accompanied by a second, smaller fluorite crystal further down. Both show phenomenal octahedral morphology with truncated corners, and they're completely damage-free. Honestly, I think the whole thing is perfectly balanced when it comes to aesthetics, and its condition really puts it over the top. It was formerly in the excellent collection of the late, great Jack Halpern (no. 2809), and the label of the dealer he bought it from shows it was priced at $5,500 at the time.

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The Chumar Bakhoor pegmatites occur above 4,600 meters in the southern Karakoram Metamorphic Complex, intruding calc-silicate rocks along the flanks of Chumar Bakhoor Peak. These NYF-type pegmatites crystallized from volatile-rich melt residues related to the Sumayar pluton, likely emplaced during post-collisional extension less than 10 Ma ago. The fluorite forms as octahedral crystals ranging from pale pink to deep rose, reaching up to 9 cm, characteristically perched on coarse golden-pearlescent muscovite plates. The celebrated September 2006 pocket find near the summit produced specimens with exceptional transparency and color that set a new standard for the locality. What makes these combinations particularly valued is the visual contrast between glassy pink fluorite and metallic-silver muscovite. Mining occurs sporadically during brief summer windows before snow closes access, and recent 2021 production indicates the pegmatites remain active though extraction requires significant logistical effort and permission from Sumayar villagers who control access rights.