Blush pink stilbite with clear apophyllite from the basalt quarries near Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India — one of the classic zeolite localities and the source of much of the world’s finest stilbite.
Each piece is a mounded aggregate of peach to pale pink stilbite blades, densely intergrown and finishing in a sparkling crystalline surface. Riding on and beside the stilbite are colorless apophyllite crystals, glassy and sharply terminated, some reaching well over an inch across with mirror-bright faces. The contrast between the warm matte pink of the stilbite and the water-clear apophyllite is what gives this material its appeal — the two species sit right next to each other on nearly every piece.
The pink color in stilbite comes from trace iron. It is natural to the locality and is not a dye or coating.
Pieces run approximately 3 to 4 inches. All six are display-ready from multiple angles.
A care note on both species: stilbite is soft at 3.5–4 on the Mohs scale and apophyllite is 4.5–5 with perfect basal cleavage, meaning the flat faces can flake if knocked or pried. Neither should be tumbled, scrubbed, or cleaned in an ultrasonic. Stilbite can also dehydrate and lose its lustre in prolonged heat or direct sun — keep these out of hot windows and away from heating vents.
Natural and untreated — no dyeing, coating, or stabilizing, as with everything we carry.
Every lot is filmed before it ships — what you see in the video is the material that arrives.
