LAYA garnet, 23 carats
Umbar, Tanzanie
Umbar, Tanzanie
The protagonist to be introduced today is a gem mineral expert, and his collection will contain many gems.
Bill Larson, San Diego native, chairman and CEO of Pala International and a boutique jewelry collector. A famous gem mineral expert, Larson not only has a wonderful mineral collection but also many rare mineral related books. He provided the best mineral specimens in the world for many famous museums.
Garnet
Mine Klodovka, Ekaterinburg, Ural mountains, Russia
Mine Klodovka, Ekaterinburg, Ural mountains, Russia
This law is twinning, amethyst, 4.9 centimeters.
Andilamena, Tamatave, Madagascar
Andilamena, Tamatave, Madagascar
Jeanne Larson remembers her first mineral trip with her husband Bill Larson during a summer in San Diego, but it was a cold winter in South Africa when they searched for a rare form of rhodochrosite, a rhodochrosite with hot red-orange crystals. They drove from Johannesburg to a small mine north of Kimberly, a large diamond mine, and arrived very late. The local hotels were full. Finally they stayed in a poor apartment. Jeanne recalled that the temperature was about 42 degrees Fahrenheit, and the only room available was two narrow marches. There is no heating in the bed and blanket. But the next day they were rewarded with a snail-like manganese rhodochrosite, now well-known, published many times in well-known mineral journals and magazines. This is also Jeanne's husband's favorite collection of minerals.
Lithium tourmaline, 7.8 cm
Alto Ligonha, Mozambique
Alto Ligonha, Mozambique
Larson started hunting stones and collecting minerals when he was very young, and in Florbrook he grew up collecting materials from an abandoned gem mine in Pala. By the age of ten, Larson helped a famous mineral collector, Josie Scripps, collect local gem specimens, dubbed "monsters." After graduating from the Colorado Institute of Mining in 1967 with honors, he took full advantage of his expertise to dig minerals and gems in Southern California and founded Pala International in 1968.
Larson founded Pala International and bought three San Diego gem deposits: the Stewart Lithia, Tourmaline Queen, and Pala Chief, located in the foothills of northern San Diego. The mining history of these deposits dates back to 1800, when tourmaline accounted for a large proportion of gem minerals, and the gem circles of the United States, Europe and Asia. They were very active, including Tiffany, who was also a buyer of Pala International. Even the Chinese loved tourmaline, which was used to decorate the official clothes of the Manchu Qing Dynasty and to make carvings with an oriental flavor. The biggest pushing hand. Santiago's gem production recorded more than $two million in early twentieth Century.
Zircon, 4.72 carats, 2 cm
Mogok
Mogok
As a world traveler, Larson often travels to distant ruby-sapphire regions like Myanmar, fascinating Russian minerals and other exciting places around the world. More than 20 times, no one knows what old and amazing things Larson will bring back from his trip to Burma.