Zircon as a doubly-terminated crystal in Albite/Phlogopite matrix
Gridone near Camedo, Centovalli, Ticino, Switzerland
 
Perfect pink-brown Zircon crystal (1.4 cm) with colour iridescence and and sharp-edged smooth faces, exposed by trimming from the surrounding Phlogopite. A textbook-like crystal on a beautifully structured Albite pegmatite matrix! Platy distorted habit type s17 (cf. LAPIS 10/2007, p. 20). Recovered in May 2016 from Nepheline pegmatite #2 on the northern flank of Gridone mountain, ex Stefan Weiß collection (H.859-64). All Zircons of this worldwide unique locality are chemically particularly pure and hence show an intense yellow fluorescence in short-wave UV light!