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The faceted willemite was cut circa 1975 and at the time was the second or third largest in the world.
The first pictured smoky quartz and amazonite combination was collected by and is owned by Dan Kile of Denver.
The sceptered quartz and elbaite is a very rare combination and as far as I know comes from only one pegmatite mine in Minas Gerais.
The imperial topaz crystals were on display at the 1994 Tucson Gem and Mineral Show. This was the finest assemblage of imperial topaz crystal on display at any one time in the U.S., as far as I am aware. Imperial topaz does not fade in the sunlight as is common for sherry and champagne colors, and is usually found in the Ouro Preto area. The coloring agent is iron and sometimes chromium. If the chromium content is large enough, the crystals turn pink or even red, and these are quite rare.
The Devil's Head Mt. area is another smoky quartz, microcline feldspar, and topaz collecting area in the Pike's Peak granite. It is in the front range and about halfway between Colorado Springs and Denver.
The Calumet Iron Mine as of the summer of 1996, shortly after Bryan Lees of Collector's Edge had re-worked some of the old digs. It is famous for nice crystals of epidote, quartz (including a few rare Japan-law twins), uralized diopside, grossular, magnetite, and corundum crystals. Please note that this mine is private property and permission may be required for collecting.
Some very fine quartz crystals have come from an area near Monarch Pass near some old marble quarries. These can be up to 4" or even longer. Some digs have crystals with inclusions, including angel-hair rutile, pyrite crystals, and others. Some recent crystals found there displayed pale yellow citrine in their termination areas.
Some pictures from the annual outdoor buy/sell/trade get-together known as the ContinTail show, held the middle of August at Buena Vista, Colorado. The first picture looks south toward Mt. Antero and Mt. Princeton in the background, the second shows Buffalo Peaks to the north.
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| Buena Vista Gem Works P.O Box 476, Buena Vista, Colorado 81211 719-395-4327 respomer@buenavistagemworks.com |
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Last Modified March 2004 All scanned photographs shown here are for your viewing enjoyment only. |
