Fluorite

Despite its intense colors, this fluorite is exceptionally transparent – almost glass-like. The crystals show a beautiful violet to light lilac color on the outside and an intense blue internally. Under LED backlighting, the blue shifts to a pleasant cyan. The interplay between the light violet exterior and the cyan-blue interior makes this fluorite particularly fascinating. This color change becomes visible as soon as the specimen is moved.

The largest fluorite cube measures exactly 5.4 cm on edge – already close to the upper size range for this find. The crystal surfaces display a fine cubic texture with silky luster, formed by natural water etching. Additional highlights include occasional dark violet spots, most likely caused by natural radioactivity from an included mineral. In this area, individual light-colored cockscomb barite crystals can also be seen growing beneath the fluorite surface.

One corner of the large cube is obliquely chipped. This old break was naturally etched by water influence and now shows aesthetically pleasing structures. The side faces also display beautiful surface textures formed by water etching. The first and second photos were taken with medium LED backlighting. This find was published in Mineralogical Record – Mineral Magazine, Vol. 54, No. 6.2. A detailed report about this find, including videos, can be found on my website.