Rhodochrosite and Quartz Specimen #rh08vault01 11.7 x 9.2 x 3.7cm Cabinet Sacaramb (Nagyag) Apuseni Mountains Hunedoara County Transylvania, Romania Antique Specimen $595 Somewhere back a few months ago, I received a call from a fellow dealer about an antique collection he had just purchased.  As the conversation progressed, he mentioned there was an old Nagyag Rhodochrosite specimen that was part of the collection.  I think it took me about 0.99 milliseconds to say SOLD!  These old Transylvanian piece are difficult to come by, so I considered myself lucky to be able to obtain this one. According to the dealer I purchased this specimen from, it was originally mined somewhere back in the 1850's, making it an antique in my book. It consists of a base matrix that has been completely covered by a mass of bladed rhodochrosite xls in the form of rosettes, ranging in color from pale to bright pink.  There are also a few partial quartz xls found on this piece.  Looking a bit closer there appear to be several xls of the mineral species - Nagyagite, although I cannot say for sure as they are fairly small (1mm).  This piece is mostly intact except for a few "cracks".  You can see one in the picture to the left.  The rhodochrosite is stable and I don't believe will separate from the base matrix.  If I got to be that old, I think I'd probably develop a few "cracks" myself.  It comes with what could be the original collection cards, pictured below. This specimen is an incredible example of mineralogy history. Pieces from Nagyag are very few and far between, to say the least!

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	Rhodochrosite Specimen #rh08vault02 7.5 x 2.9 x 2.8cm Small Cabinet N'Chwaning Mine Kuruman, Cape Province South Africa Defunct Locality $3,000 I've had the pleasure of sharing numerous N'Chwaning specimens with you over the years. The following four specimens are the best examples from this local I've ever presented! This specimen consists of a mass of tightly packed scalenohedral crystals to 2cm.  They appear somewhat fibrous, are very gemmy, translucent and lustrous.  I have backlit many of the photographs in order to give you an idea of just how transparent this specimen is.  When backlit, it displays an almost blood red color which reminds me of the recent find of etched spessartine garnets from Minas Gerais.  The terminations of the individual xls appear to be a flattened pyramidal shape, which is a departure from the typical scalenohedral, or "dog toothed" shape found here.  I cannot see any damage to to the main display face of this specimen although there are a few cleaved xls along the edge of the specimen which must have happened during its extraction.  This is a very beautiful and highly collectable specimen from a world famous and closed location.

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	Rhodochrosite Specimen #rh08vault03 4.5 x 2.8 x 1.9cm Miniature N'Chwaning Mine #1 Kuruman, Cape Province South Africa Defunct Locality $1,400 This specimen displays the unusual feature of the individual crystals having flat terminations, rather than the more common "dog-tooth" points.  This is caused by a later, secondary overgrowth of rhodochrosite on earlier formed xls that had sharp terminations.  This piece displays xls that are what I would describe as red wine colored with an intricate, lustrous, complicated and almost "stepped" crystalline structure.  The underside of this piece displays an interesting phenomenon.  There's the remnants of a pink botryoidal rhodochrosite xl (see photo below) that predated the intricate structure that has formed atop it.  Am amazing and attractive specimen from a world famous and closed location.

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	Rhodochrosite on Manganite Specimen #rh08vault04 6.4 x 3.7 x 2.7cm Small Cabinet N'Chwaning Mine #1 Kuruman, Cape Province South Africa Rare Habit Defunct Locality $6,500 This specimen is DEFINITELY my favorite piece listed on this page.  It's made up of a mass of "wheat sheaf" bundles of rhodochrosite xls formed on a base of jet black and lustrous manganite xls.  This unusual habit displays a very attractive (and in my opinion very beautiful) color zonation where the interior portion of an individual xl is bright pink, while the exterior of the "bundle" is covered by xls that are water clear to red.  The exterior of each bundle is formed by a multitude of tightly packed scalenohedral xls that display a very gemmy quality.  This specimen is intact with only a bit of edge abrasion.  Specimens of this quality do not come on the market very often, and I feel privileged to offer this one to you.  In my humble rhodochrosite loving opinion, this is a world class specimen, and one that I would be proud to call my own!

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	Rhodochrosite on Manganite Specimen #rh08vault05 7.0 x 4.7 x 3.5cm Small Cabinet N'Chwaning Mine #1 Kuruman, Cape Province South Africa Extremely Rare Habit Defunct Locality $9,500 This specimen is the Holy Grail for South African rhodochrosite collectors.  It displays the rarest habit of rhodochrosite found at N'Chwaning as only a few specimens were preserved.  This piece is made up of dark pink, fan shaped sprays of rhodochrosite on jet black manganite.  My pictures give you an idea of just how intricate and delicate this crystalline formation truly is.  Each larger xl is made up of countless depositions or layers of rhodochrosite xls reminding of the complex nature of Egyptian Pyramids.  There is what I would best describe as fraying around the edges of this piece where it was freed from whatever matrix held it in place. I cannot stress enough the rarity of this rhodochrosite habit as I have only seen a handful in my collecting life and they have all been in a museum or part of a private collection.  This is a incredible example of mother natures magic!