Detailed information
Dimensions
91 x 130 x 52
mm
Locality
Le Catogne, Sembrancher Les Bagnes Valley, Valais Switzerland
Condition
No recorded repairs
The scale of the Axinite-(Fe) crystals found at Le Catogne, a 2598 m high mountain near Sembrancher, in Les Bagnes Valley, Valais, Switzerland during the 1990s is almost beyond belief for Europe. Collected from a cavity high up on the north face of Le Catogne, the largest individual crystal reportedly reached 18 cm across. This spectacular larger cabinet-sized bed of sharp, upstanding bladed Axinite-(Fe) crystals features some to over 5 cm on edge which is still exceptional. Not only are they large, but they display wonderfully well, making this one of very finest Axinite-(Fe) specimens from the find, but from Europe as a whole. The crystals present the typical translucent to opaque appearance, as seen in most of the crystals from this cavity, and with a greyish-brown colour, with just a few showing the typical clove-brown colour seen in other Axinite elsewhere. An extremely memorable European Axinite.
