Beryllonite

When it comes to specimens of Beryllonite, the finest examples are those from Afghanistan. This rare sodium beryllium phosphate is often found in smaller, nondescript specimens from various other pegmatite localities around the world, but the specimens from Afghanistan are incredibly well-formed, large and beautiful. This piece is a good-sized, sharp, well-formed, euhedral, pseudo-hexagonal (monoclinic) crystal group of Beryllonite showing the typical heavily striated prism edges, free of matrix. The specimen is actually a complete "floater" with no damage or point of attachment anywhere. It almost resembles a cityscape with the tops of the building at various heights. The color ranges from a nearly opaque white hue on the lower portion, which grades into a slightly "smoky" color that shows a bit more translucency on the terminations. This piece dates back to the mid to late 1990s, when some of the best examples of the material came out of Afghanistan. Specimen # WWMIX82110