Description

Superb historic specimen of smoky quartz perforated by empty (dissolved) cavities of aquamarine crystals.
Several pale-blue aquamarine crystals, a variety of beryl, are still visible.
From the tin-rich La Villeder veins.
La Villeder is a former tin mine in the Morbihan department of Brittany.
During its lifetime, but also very recently, it produced magnificent cassiterite crystallizations.
For over 150 years, these cassiterites were the most beautiful in the world, before specimens were discovered in Bolivia, and very recently in China.
This mine, with its rich history, has also yielded some very pretty pale aquamarine beryls, known at the time of mining as the emeralds of Brittany!
In fact, the old handwritten label mentions “[…] perforated by empty emerald lodges […]”.

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