Star Quartz Lightbrary Cluster - Hollandite in Quartz - Rare Included Crystal - Itremo, Madagascar 37x33x30mm / 29.5g - Part hotsell Polished

An excellent cluster of crystals of Hollandite included Star Quartz. It consists of a large central crystal surrounded by many side crystals in a cascading lightbrary formation. The central crystal has the faces of the tip polished whereas most of the side crystals are left unpolished. There is a particularly big star in the central crystal and, interestingly, quite a few partial stars. These crystals are often also called spider quartz so if the complete stars are spiders then the partial ones are stray spider legs ! There are further stars in both the main crystal and the side crystals. The crystal also has Hollandite in the form of clusters of droplets as well as the more usual star shapes. At 1.5 inches it is a fairly large specimen for this type of quartz as most of these crystals are less than an inch in size.

It is also worth rembering that the vast majority of Star Quartz that is found are single crystals with clusters being very uncommon. This specimen was from finds made around 2005 or so. After a long time with no more material there have been some more finds in the last couple of years but generally this newer material seems hotsell to have smaller and far fewer stars per crystal than the older finds.

From the Itremo Massif, Ambatofinandrahana, Madagascar.

It measures 37x33x30mm and weighs 29.5g

Star or Spider Quartz is so named after the tiny little inclusions of Hollandite visible within the crystals. It is quite a rare crystal as it occurs only in one small area of Madagascar and nowhere else in the world. Most crystals are small - less than an inch in length and only contain a few stars. Large crystals of 2 inches or more are few and far between whilst clusters are extraordinarily rare. As the crystals are found in an extremely hard host rock it is virtually inpossible to find any specimens without a ding or 2 somewhere or other. Most lower grade examples are completely polished and even the very best are lightly polished on at least a couple of faces to aid the visibility of the inclusions. Their location is always given as Ambositra but that is merely the closest large town where they are brought to market. They were actually mined on the Itremo Massif about 20 km west of Ambatofinandrahana which in turn is about 45 km west of Ambositra. Finds are few and far between with those in the last few years being the first for nearly a decade. They remain highly sought after.


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