Detailed information
Dimensions
29 x 45 x 73
mm
Weight
166 g
Locality
Monte Cimini Viterbo Province Lazio, Italy
Condition
No recorded repairs
Sanidine is a seldom seen member of the Feldspar Group in mineral collections and when of sufficient quality, can be used as a gemstone. I always remember an illustration of a cut Sanidine in my very first mineral book, Rocks and Minerals by Herbert S. Zim, a book I still treasure to this day. So, if you have been searching for a good Sanidine, this superb small cabinet specimen might be for you! From Monti Cimini in the Viterbo Province of Lazio, Italy, it is off matrix and measures 7.3 x 4.5 x 2.9 cm, forming a complete monoclinic crystal of translucent cream with many transparent zones contained within. The images may give the impression some of the terminated faces are broken, but this is not the case. On closer examination the crystal is twinned, with subtle yet distinct re-entrant angled faces, these in turn overgrown by small, glassy Sanidine crystals. A Schiller effect (play of coloured light) can be seen across one face. This excellent specimen comes with several labels, including an ‘Institut der Universitat Rostock’ and one printed ‘Dresden – Plauen’.
