This dramatic lapidary art is a freeform sculpture carved out of a single huge quartz crystal, showing off an 11.5 cm-long spray of intense golden rutile crystals within. These elongated needle-like crystals have shimmer and sparkle with a rich color. They are dead-straight as if following a laser light through glass. These rutile inclusions are a titanium mineral that formed, probably very quickly and simultaneously, as the quartz was cooling, approximately 100 million years ago. The clarity of the quartz is high, making this desirable rough material for both carvings and jewellery. Such pieces of top quality rough material, today, almost all go to China where they are carved into spheres and amulets, and lucky desk items, as the words for this in Mandarin Chinese (Fa Jing) literally translates to "lucky quartz."  These are a cultural obsession in China, and the vast market demands and absorbs nearly all rough rutile in quartz production from both Brazil and Madagascar - all the world supply. This is a piece of rough rutilated quartz that is carved out on the major face to show the quality and value within; and was probably destined to turn into a custom carving, sphere, or other object. At the time, in the 1980s-90s, much of this material still came to the USA first and it was intercepted by well-known gem and mineral collector (and the first president of Apple Computers) Mike Scott along its path to that end; and he kept "raw" in a natural state with a simple polish on the major face so that one could appreciate the inclusions within. It was an illustration of a natural quartz inclusion caught halfway between raw nature and the finished jewellery or freeform sculpture that could be made from it, and Mike loved to show such pieces to inspire people to understand that such art really does come from natural objects. It still has considerable carving value if it were to be made into a smaller shape; but it is better it is enjoyed as a specimen just as is. With a cust

Ex Mike Scott Collection