Aquamarine Crystal Slice, Polished Faces, Mt. Antero, CO. 21.53 ct.

Aquamarine Crystal Slice, Hand-Polished Faces, Mt. Antero, CO. 21.53 ct. ~20 x 6 mm. Excellent natural hexagonal shape of the beryl crystal, great medium dark color, gemmy, transparent areas. From the famous "Snowpatch" area. Very nice and perfect for jewelry--could be used for wire wrap, silver casting, or drill a hole for silver wire stringing. Rare. This quality, size, and color are not common for slices. Side faces show typical Antero striations. Dime is for scale and not included. Mt. Antero is considered the highest gem producing area in the U.S. at 14,269 ft, and has produced fine crystals for over 100 years, but nice ones are hard to get. Most finds are broken sections or pieces. All collecting is done above approx. 12,000 ft in altitude in steep areas, and is subject to lightning, rain, snow, sleet, rockslides, rolling rocks, cave-ins, and altitude sickness, among other dangers. The  crystals can be loose in the scree where they have weathered out, or if you're lucky you can find the intact pockets in pegmatite in decomposing or intact granite. Currently the best collecting spots are mostly on private mining claims so access is limited in those areas to knowing someone and securing permission to collect.