Nature Science

10 MOST STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL MINERAL SPECIMENS NOW

Courtesy of Heady Hunter. Tourmaline Specimen.

Today, our exploration of Beautiful Specimens takes us deep into the Earth, for mineral specimens. We’ve found 10 of the most beautiful mineral specimens we’ve ever seen to share with you. Some are even available for sale. Check them out.

1. TOURMALINE SPECIMEN

This Tourmaline specimen has particularly deep color saturation. It is of exceptionally high quality, with excellent translucence and brilliant luster.

Tourmaline is a crystalline boron silicate mineral compounded with elements such as aluminium, iron, magnesium, sodium, lithium, or potassium. It has a trigonal crystal system, with three-sided prismatic and columnar crystals, no other common mineral has three sides.

Tourmalines range in color from black to blue, green, red, yellow, and pink. Often they are multi-colored.

While tourmaline is considered a semi-precious stone and is used for fine jewelry, they were used by chemists in the 19th century to polarize light. Some tourmalines are magnetic.

2. ACANTHITE SILVER SPECIMEN

We love the way these beautiful tendrils curl up from this incredible Acanthite Silver specimen.

Acanthite Silver is a stable form of silver sulfide. Discovered in 1855, Acanthite derives its name from the Greek word “akantha,” which means thorn or arrow due to its usual crystal shape.

3. CROCOITE SPECIMEN

This Crocoite specimen is perfect for Halloween! Bright orange and beautiful, it is made up of lead chromate, which consists of lead, chromium, and oxygen.

Discovered in 1766 in the Ural Mountains, Crocoite is most commonly found in Tasmania, where it is the nation’s national mineral emblem.

4. PALLASITE METEORITE SPECIMEN

This Pallasite Meteorite specimen is typical in its strange composition. Made up of nuggets of Olivine Peridot, a beautiful green, gray, and brown colored mineral, which sit suspended in a nickel-iron matrix, these specimens are extremely rare. Only 61 of these stunning rocks have been discovered.

Pallasite Meteorites were once thought to originate from the core mantle boundary of differentiated asteroids that were shattered upon impact when they hit the Earth. Now scientists believe that they are actually generated on impact, made of a mixture of core and mantle materials.

They are named after German naturalists Peter Pallas who studied the specimen in 1776. His findings were used as an example by E.F.F. Chladni i in 1790 to prove the existence of meteorites found on Earth.

5. BLACK OPAL SPECIMEN

This Black Opal specimen comes from a mine near Melbourne, Australia. Black Opals are among the rarest of all Opals.

All opals are well known for their ability to diffract light beautifully. They create an optical effect of luminous pearlescent shine in an opulent play-of-color, which experts described as “opalising.”

Australian Opals were formed about a million years ago when the country was covered in vast inland sea. Over time water, carrying silica, flushed into the cavities of the sedimentary rock along the shoreland, naturally transforming the rock into opal.

Beyond Black Opals, there are many other types. Some of the highest quality, most rare specimens can command prices per carat that exceed the prices of diamonds, rubies, and emeralds.

6. BISMUTH SPECIMEN

This specimen of Bismuth shows off this brittle metal’s typical white and silver-pink hues, with an iridescent oxide tarnish adding a range of colors from yellow to blue. Its spiral, stair-stepped structure is the result of a higher growth rate around the outside edges than on the inside edges.

Bismuth, one of the first 10 metals ever to be discovered, has been known since ancient times.

While it has long been considered as the element with the highest atomic mass that is stable, in 2003 it was found to be slightly radioactive, with a half life more than a billion times the estimated age of the universe.

Bismuth compounds are used in cosmetics, pigments, and some pharmaceuticals.

7. CUPROSKLODOWSKITE SPECIMEN

This specimen of Cuprosklodowskite shows its typical gorgeous grass-green color. It is a secondary uranium mineral formed by alteration of earlier uranium minerals. Its crystal habit is typically acicular, flat bladed crystals.

Though it looks like it would make for beautiful jewelry, it is actually a strongly radioactive mineral.

Cuprosklodowskite was discovered in 1933 in the Belgian Congo. It was named for Marie Curie (née Maria Sklodowska) (1867–1934).

8. FLUORITE WITH BARITE SPECIMEN

This is a double specimen, containing both fluorite and barite. Fluorite (also called fluorspar) is the mineral form of calcium fluoride. It crystallizes in isometric cubic, octahedral and more complex isometric habits.

Rich in purple hues, it is fluorescent under ultraviolet light. It is used both industrially and in jewelry.

This Barite specimen is made of barium sulfate. It is typically white or colorless in its clusters of blade-shaped spines. It is the main source of barium and is used mostly for industrial purposes.

This extraordinary specimen is from the Berbes Mining area, Ribadesella, Asturias, Spain. It is available for sale from J. M. Schmidlin Mineral Collection.

9. THUNDEREGG SPECIMEN

This Thunderegg specimen has a “yolk” made up of amethyst, surrounded by a “white” of agate. It is a typical lithophysae structure, formed in lava flows.

Every Thunderegg site has it’s own characteristics, with the specimens found in each being distinctly different from each other, despite any relative proximity.

The name Thunderegg comes from American Indian legends, considered to be the eggs of the thunderbirds which occupied Mount Hood and Mount Jefferson (Oregon).

10. GOLD SPECIMEN

Most people don’t think of gold as a crystal, but in fact, that’s how gold forms. This specimen is the largest gold crystal ever found, weighing in at 217.78 grams (7.7 ounces) and valued at an estimated $1.5 million.

Most of the Earth's gold specimens are inaccessible, as they reside at the planet’s core. Most of the gold we can extract from the Earth comes from meteorites and asteroids.

Read more about Beautiful Specimens, as they relate to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact including 10 Most Beautiful Specimens Available Now.

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