Free gift from Afghanistan seller. Pic 2: LW. Pic 3 SW.

Used a 365nm UV light on this Amethyst Cave, never seen this before!

I just got one of those turntables, so I can finally show off my favorite piece the way it deserves to be seen. One side is covered in sulfur crystals, and the other side is mostly brightly fluorescent aragonite. It weighs just under a pound (422g) and measures 11*8*6cm. I got it from a collection that was donated to a local rock shop without any labels. I suspect it is from the cozzo disi mine.

I scored on this specimen the other week, but I can’t make out the yellow fluorescent mineral that makes itself know under shortwave and midwave. The known minerals are quartz and mn-bearing calcite. The black appears to be a manganese oxide. Anyone know what I’m looking at?

I got this piece about a month ago, and I absolutely love it. I will, however, say I really don’t think I’m looking at hydrozincite, as the pieces I’ve bought in the past glow a very rich sky blue, and all the sources I’ve read say that the blue is correct. 

The thing is, I haven't actually been able to find anything online to tell me what the green is. Whether it’s a different variety, another mineral being sold as hydrozincite as like a trade name, or some other situation. 

The pics here are shortwave (254 nm), longwave (362 nm), and then normal light. If anyone has similar pieces and/or knows what's going on with the color difference, I’d love to know!

Got my 365nm UV light today to look at some colored glass, but didn't expect my grandmother's ring to light up like this.

Stamps and make suggest it was produced in Soviet Union (more precisely Kharkiv Jewelry Factory) in 1977 and is lab-created corundum ruby.

The most recent addition to my collection. The apatite crystals are really nice and gemmy, and I love the matrix too. I know most people go for the big single crystals, but this piece is way more interesting to me, especially under midwave UV. The back side is almost entirely calcite and glows red under midwave too, not nearly as pretty though.

Hey everyone!

This small, beautiful corundum-sapphire specimen was collected from the Revelstoke region of British Columbia, Canada. This material comes from a high-alpine occurrence originally discovered by the late prospector Herb Hyder, a few years before his passing. Rock Rush now owns the claim and hand-mined and supplied this specimen from this remote location. I've had the joy of visiting this locality a few times now. This locality produces a wide range of colors of sapphire, including ruby.

Anyways, I've always had a hard time describing the color of these sapphires. They are silky and can be icy blue to white, or soft pink to lavender, depending on the light type and intensity, and they contain patches of dark blue. I often wonder if they would be considered color-change territory!

Part of the reason these blue sapphires have pink and lavender undertones is explained when you put a UV light to them. They fluoresce beautifully, pointing to a fascinating, chromium-leaning geochemistry.

I apologize if these photos are bad quality, I am a mineral collector and nerd first, and a photographer last... learning though.

Cheers,

Ana

Sorry I had posted this and there were a few too many typos. Hopefully this makes more sense. Haha

Black Rose Fluorite 🥀💡
Would love to hear your thoughts 💭 see original post for videos in comments!

Need help!

Another find from the Mineral expo in Rijswijk. A very unassuming piece of calcite, exploding in color under midwave. UV also reveals the 2 distinct generations of calcite, glowing in totally different ways. On the "front" side, the 2nd generation consists of a thin layer on most of the crystals. In person it looks great, but in photos it makes it look muddled unfortunately. I could not leave it for only €3.

Anyone wanting a closer look at anything I can show since it's hard to get them all in one shot :)

Chalcedony found in southeast Wyoming, displayed under daylight then 365nm

Any help is appreciated!

Beautiful Greenlandic rock :)