CYND03 Fluorite
Yindu Mine, Chifeng Pref., Inner Mongolia A.R., China
4.2x 2.1x 2.7 cm
$1200
A spectacular example from what is probably my favorite pocket that I have encountered so far. This one is has very sharp, clear cubes with a perfect purple octahedral phantom. To call this a phantom however is a little misleading-- that implies a degree of wispiness. This is more of a solid purple crystal that got frozen in lighter blue fluorite. The later, light-blue generation is exceptionally clear, so much so that you can see the beveled edges on the original octahedron. What's more, this one does not need backlighting to be appreciated-- I did get a couple larger plates with the same sort of phantoms, but special lighting is required (at least until I can get them prepped).