EMB26AN5: Floater group of Pyrite with very sharp crystal forms, lustrous polycrystalline growths and with small remnants of a carbonaceous matrix. Excellent for the locality, from which specimens of such a high quality were not known before.
Saint-Denis-d'Orques, La Flèche area, Sarthe Department, Pays de la Loire  France (04/2021)

Specimen size: 5.8 × 5.7 × 3.8 cm = 2.28” × 2.24” × 1.50”

Main crystal size: 2.3 × 2 cm = 0.91” × 0.79”

EPC46AN5: Floater group of Pyrite with very sharp crystal forms, lustrous polycrystalline growths and with small remnants of a carbonaceous matrix. Excellent for the locality, from which specimens of such a high quality were not known before.
Saint-Denis-d'Orques, La Flèche area, Sarthe Department, Pays de la Loire  France (04/2021)

Specimen size: 6 × 3.6 × 5.7 cm = 2.36” × 1.42” × 2.24”

Main crystal size: 1.8 × 1.2 cm = 0.71” × 0.47”

EFZ66AQ1: Druse of cubic Pyrite crystals with polycrystalline growths and slight distortions and curvatures on all their faces.
Saint-Denis-d'Orques, La Flèche area, Sarthe Department, Pays de la Loire  France (2022)

Specimen size: 6.8 × 4.7 × 3.2 cm = 2.68” × 1.85” × 1.26”

Main crystal size: 1.5 × 1.5 cm = 0.59” × 0.59”

ETV86AN5: Floater group of Pyrite with very sharp crystal forms, lustrous polycrystalline growths and with small remnants of a carbonaceous matrix. Excellent for the locality, from which specimens of such a high quality were not known before.
Saint-Denis-d'Orques, La Flèche area, Sarthe Department, Pays de la Loire  France (04/2021)

Specimen size: 7.7 × 5.7 × 3.9 cm = 3.03” × 2.24” × 1.54”

Main crystal size: 2.2 × 1.5 cm = 0.87” × 0.59”

MZB27XXX: Pyrite that completely replaces a fossil ammonite, very clearly preserving its original morphology. The good size of the Pyrite crystals stands out, as well as the integrity of the fossil, which appears complete and perfect, something not very common in this type of replacement.
A very representative piece from this interesting French locality.

The area corresponds to Mesozoic marine sedimentary formations rich in fossils. The mineralization is related to diagenetic replacement processes, in which the original ammonite material is replaced by Pyrite under reducing conditions, preserving its structure in detail.
Saint-Denis-d'Orques, La Flèche area, Sarthe Department, Pays de la Loire  France

Specimen size: 7.8 × 4 × 3.2 cm = 3.07” × 1.57” × 1.26”

Main crystal size: 1.6 × 1.3 cm = 0.63” × 0.51”

EVA96AN5: Very curious morphology of this Pyrite that forms parallel vertical growths, highlighting some very sharp trihedral terminations, which surprisingly do not seem to correspond to the cubic system. Excellent for the locality, from which specimens of such high quality have hardly ever been seen.
Saint-Denis-d'Orques, La Flèche area, Sarthe Department, Pays de la Loire  France (04/2021)

Specimen size: 8.7 × 2.4 × 4.6 cm = 3.43” × 0.94” × 1.81”

Main crystal size: 1.1 × 1 cm = 0.43” × 0.39”

TXM47AP9: Nodular growth of Pyrite with an interior rich in sharp and aerial crystals of the same Pyrite that are very visible due to the partial dissolution of the sedimentary material that hosted the Pyrite nodule.
Very different from the usual.
Saint-Denis-d'Orques, La Flèche area, Sarthe Department, Pays de la Loire  France

Specimen size: 12 × 8.4 × 4.8 cm = 4.72” × 3.31” × 1.89”

Main crystal size: 1 × 0.5 cm = 0.39” × 0.20”

EPX98AQ1: Nodule of Pyrite crystals with a well-defined cubic habit and smooth faces with very fine striations. The nodule presents a curious partition that forms a cross-shaped figure.
Unique among all those found there.
Saint-Denis-d'Orques, La Flèche area, Sarthe Department, Pays de la Loire  France (2022)

Specimen size: 12.5 × 11 × 2.6 cm = 4.92” × 4.33” × 1.02”

Main crystal size: 0.7 × 0.6 cm = 0.28” × 0.24”

EMB97ASN3: A very curious and interesting specimen formed by cubic Pyrite crystals that have grown over an elliptical concave cavity, likely of fossil origin, formed by a petrified marly clay intergrown with bands of Pyrite.
A high-quality piece and difficult to find nowadays, as the quarry from which it comes, although still active, is dangerous and specimen collection there is prohibited.
Saint-Denis-d'Orques, La Flèche area, Sarthe Department, Pays de la Loire  France (2022)

Specimen size: 14.1 × 10.9 × 4.1 cm = 5.55” × 4.29” × 1.61”

Main crystal size: 0.4 × 0.4 cm = 0.16” × 0.16”

TMG97AN3: A 'butterfly' twin of two very sharp Calcite crystals, with geometric bands of different intensities of red color due to Hematite inclusions. Interestingly similar to the classic English twinned Calcites from the Bigrigg area.
The specimen is from the Alain Martaud collection.
Vaiges, Meslay-du-Maine, Mayenne, Mayenne Department, Pays de la Loire  France

Specimen size: 7.4 × 7.1 × 2.4 cm = 2.91” × 2.80” × 0.94”

EA87S3: Group of Quartz crystals practically dipyramidal, with a scant development of the prism. They are very bright, rich with inclusions and have very evident “window” growths.
Allos Pass, Allos area, Barcelonette, Castellane, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur  France

Specimen size: 9.2 × 5.7 × 4.3 cm = 3.62” × 2.24” × 1.69”

TDA46AP5: Druse of translucent Baryte crystals, with a uniform pale blue color, on a base of deformed white crystals of Celestine. The specimen, from the early 1970s, is of good quality for the locality and it comes from the collection of Francis Barillet, whose handwritten label we will send to the buyer.
Clavelas Quarry, Le Bersac, Serres, Gap, Hautes-Alpes, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur  France (±1972)

Specimen size: 7 × 4.7 × 4.6 cm = 2.76” × 1.85” × 1.81”

Main crystal size: 1.4 × 0.7 cm = 0.55” × 0.28”

EGH27ASN5: Sedimentary-origin Pyrite crystals, very aerially disposed on matrix, showing octahedral and pentagonal dodecahedral morphologies with rounded vertices and some faces exhibiting deep striations, all of them highly lustrous.
They form an elegant structure, and moreover, they come from a French deposit that is rarely represented in collections.
Intercommunality Serre-Ponçon, Embrun, Gap, Hautes-Alpes, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur  France

Specimen size: 7.8 × 3.4 × 2.9 cm = 3.07” × 1.34” × 1.14”

Main crystal size: 1.5 × 1 cm = 0.59” × 0.39”

MBX87XXX: Delicate sculpture formed by very fine Copper crystals, very aerial and in the form of thin laminae, which have grown on a Riebeckite matrix, resulting in a very balanced and fine specimen.
It comes from a copper and bornite mineralization at the contact between serpentinites and calcareous schists, near Briançon, in the French Alps, in a mine where mining work was carried out from the Paleolithic until the 1960s.
Les Clausis Mine, Saint-Véran, Briançon, Hautes-Alpes, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur  France

Specimen size: 8.5 × 5.4 × 0.7 cm = 3.35” × 2.13” × 0.28”

Main crystal size: 5.1 × 1.4 cm = 2.01” × 0.55”

EM47AM7: Very aerial group of elongated octahedral Acanthite crystals, with very well defined faces and edges. This highly unusual specimen comes from a reference locality for Fluorite and in which Acanthite is practically unknown.
Fontsante Mine, Tanneron Massif, Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur  France

Specimen size: 2. × 1.4 × 1.2 cm = 0.79” × 0.55” × 0.47”

Main crystal size: 1 × 0.5 cm = 0.39” × 0.20”

ETF26AP2: Very aerial polycrystalline growth of Fluorite crystals on matrix, with Quartz. This lustrous and translucent group shows an intense concentration of blue-violet color in its central area.
Fontsante Mine, Tanneron Massif, Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur  France

Specimen size: 4.1 × 3.9 × 1.7 cm = 1.61” × 1.54” × 0.67”

TCR14AN4: Druse of Fluorite crystals with very well marked, transparent, lustrous polycrystalline growths, with a vivid and uniform green color, on which there is a parallel growth of colorless and transparent fine tabular Baryte crystals.
This piece is from the Alain Martaud collection.
Fontsante Mine, Saint-Barthélemy vein, Tanneron Massif, Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur  France (±1999-05)

Specimen size: 4.3 × 2.8 × 2.6 cm = 1.69” × 1.10” × 1.02”

Main crystal size: 1.7 × 0.7 cm = 0.67” × 0.28”

TC49X7: Aggregate of translucent cubic crystals that are very bright and have a deep green color, with a neat geometric color zoning, clearer on the edges.
Fontsante Mine, Tanneron Massif, Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur  France

Specimen size: 6.1 × 5.4 × 3.7 cm = 2.40” × 2.13” × 1.46”

Main crystal size: 2.3 × 1.7 cm = 0.91” × 0.67”

TDF86AN4: Druse of Fluorite crystals with very marked polycrystalline growths, transparent against the light and with a very deep blue-violet color, with zoning of different intensity and the color highly concentrated in the crystal nucleus (“cocarde”).
A French classic that comes from the Alain Martaud collection.
Fontsante Mine, Sud 3 vein, Tanneron Massif, Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur  France (±2004)

Specimen size: 6.3 × 5.8 × 3.4 cm = 2.48” × 2.28” × 1.34”

Main crystal size: 2.7 × 2.6 cm = 1.06” × 1.02”

EBH27AN7: Druse of crystals with a cubic habit with polycrystalline growths on the faces that form sharp steps, lustrous, transparent and with a very deep and uniform blue-violet color.
A French classic that comes from the Alain Martaud collection, whose label we will send to the buyer.
Fontsante Mine, Tanneron Massif, Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur  France

Specimen size: 7.2 × 6.6 × 2.1 cm = 2.83” × 2.60” × 0.83”

Main crystal size: 1.6 × 1.2 cm = 0.63” × 0.47”

EFG37AN5: Druse of Fluorite crystals, between transparent and translucent, with a bright luster and an intense and uniform yellow color, associated with a small group of Baryte crystals.
A quality French classic that comes from the Alain Martaud collection, whose label we will send to the buyer.

Fontsante Mine, Tanneron Massif, Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur  France

Specimen size: 7.7 × 6.6 × 3 cm = 3.03” × 2.60” × 1.18”

Main crystal size: 1 × 1 cm = 0.39” × 0.39”

ERT48AN7: Group of crystals with a very sharp cubic habit, translucent, with good luster and a uniform green color, with a last phase of growth of a more yellow color. From the ‘Figuier’ vein, which is reputed to have produced the best quality Fluorites in this deposit.
A French classic that comes from the Alain Martaud collection, whose label we will send to the buyer.
Fontsante Mine, Figuier vein, Tanneron Massif, Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur  France (2011)

Specimen size: 7.7 × 6.6 × 3.2 cm = 3.03” × 2.60” × 1.26”

Main crystal size: 4.6 × 2.2 cm = 1.81” × 0.87”

EJK96AO0: Group of Fluorite crystals with a cubic shape, very sharp, between transparent and translucent, with good luster and a uniform green color with a geometric growth of a more yellow color. The specimen comes from the Figuier vein, which is reputed to have produced the best quality fluorites in this deposit.
Fontsante Mine, Figuier vein, Tanneron Massif, Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur  France

Specimen size: 10.6 × 4.4 × 2 cm = 4.17” × 1.73” × 0.79”

Main crystal size: 1.3 × 0.9 cm = 0.51” × 0.35”

TPT48AN3: Druse of Fluorite crystals with a cubic habit, very sharp, with good luster and a pale pink-violet color, an unusual color in this deposit.
This specimen is from the Alain Martaud collection.
Fontsante Mine, Sud 3 vein, Tanneron Massif, Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur  France (2005-2007)

Specimen size: 8.4 × 5.4 × 2.7 cm = 3.31” × 2.13” × 1.06”

Main crystal size: 0.3 × 0.3 cm = 0.12” × 0.12”

TGH37AP9: Group of Fluorite crystals with staggered polycrystalline growths, translucent, with good luster and an intense green color, with coatings of tiny Pyrite crystals that tend to grow along the junctures between the fluorite crystals.
High quality for the locality.
Fontsante Mine, Figuier vein, Tanneron Massif, Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur  France

Specimen size: 9.8 × 7.2 × 3.2 cm = 3.86” × 2.83” × 1.26”

Main crystal size: 4.7 × 2.6 cm = 1.85” × 1.02”

EXA68AO0: Group of Fluorite crystals with a cubic habit, very sharp, transparent, with good luster and a very intense uniform green color and covered by small transparent lamellar Baryte crystals. The specimen comes from the Figuier vein, which is reputed to have produced the best quality fluorites in this deposit.
Fontsante Mine, Figuier vein, Tanneron Massif, Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur  France

Specimen size: 10 × 9 × 3 cm = 3.94” × 3.54” × 1.18”

Main crystal size: 1 × 0.7 cm = 0.39” × 0.28”

TQV87AN3: Fluorite crystals with dominant cubic shapes beveled by the dodecahedron, of an intense green color with deep violet zoning in some areas of the specimen and with small white Quartz crystals.
This specimen is from the Alain Martaud collection.
Fontsante Mine, Lenté D. vein, Tanneron Massif, Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur  France (2005)

Specimen size: 10.2 × 8.2 × 4.3 cm = 4.02” × 3.23” × 1.69”

Main crystal size: 1.2 × 1.2 cm = 0.47” × 0.47”

TC2220TTV: Druse of Fluorite crystals with a cubic shape, very sharp, with a lilac color and partially covered by groups of white Baryte crystals. The specimen, which is unusual for the locality, comes from the Alain Martaud collection, whose label we will send to the buyer.
Fontsante Mine, Sud 3 vein, Tanneron Massif, Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur  France (1999-2005)

Specimen size: 11 × 7.2 × 3.7 cm = 4.33” × 2.83” × 1.46”

Main crystal size: 0.6 × 0.6 cm = 0.24” × 0.24”

TNR72AN3: Druse with radial and stalagmitic growths of transparent and bright cubic Fluorite microcrystals with a bright and uniform green color. Unusual combination of stalagmitic growths and the deep green color. Associated with small crystals of Baryte.
The specimen is from the Alain Martaud collection.
Fontsante Mine, Saint-Barthélemy vein, Tanneron Massif, Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur  France (1999-2005)

Specimen size: 11.8 × 11.2 × 3.3 cm = 4.65” × 4.41” × 1.30”

EXE90AP0: Druse of Fluorite crystals with very well defined polycrystalline growths, transparent, with good luster and a vivid and uniform green color, on an older generation of colorless Fluorite crystals. On the back of the specimen there are fine tabular Baryte crystals associated with Calcite.
The specimen comes from the Figuier vein, which is reputed to have produced the best quality fluorites in this deposit and comes to us from the Alain Martaud collection, whose label we will send to the buyer.
Fontsante Mine, Figuier vein, Tanneron Massif, Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur  France (1976)

Specimen size: 15.3 × 9.7 × 3.5 cm = 6.02” × 3.82” × 1.38”

Main crystal size: 1.3 × 1.2 cm = 0.51” × 0.47”

EYA86XXX: Pentagododecahedral Pyrite crystals, extraordinarily lustrous and well defined, two of them clearly dominant, on a rock matrix completely covered by Quartz crystals, offering a beautiful contrast of color and luster.

The quarry lies within the influence of the Estérel Massif, a Mesozoic volcanic complex composed mainly of rhyolites, microgranites and alkaline igneous rocks. These units host cavities and geodes containing secondary minerals and alteration species typical of rhyolitic and alkaline-trachytic settings.
Aigue Bonne Quarry, Saint Raphael, Draguignan District, Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur  France (2024)

Specimen size: 5.9 × 3.4 × 0.7 cm = 2.32” × 1.34” × 0.28”

Main crystal size: 0.9 × 0.7 cm = 0.35” × 0.28”

ELP66AO1: Botryoidal growths in the cavities of a limonitic matrix of lustrous Olivenite microcrystals with an intense deep green color. The specimen comes from one of the great classic localities for the species.
From the Alain Martaud collection, whose label we will send to the buyer.

Cap Garonne Mine, Le Pradet, Toulon, Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur  France

Specimen size: 7.9 × 5.8 × 4.7 cm = 3.11” × 2.28” × 1.85”

XM290MFF: Elongated crystals of Azurite with a very vivid electric-blue color and good luster, with small remnants of green Malachite crystals, all on a quartzitic rock matrix. From a truly classic French locality.
Cap Garonne Mine, Le Pradet, Toulon, Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur  France

Specimen size: 5.2 × 4.4 × 3 cm = 2.05” × 1.73” × 1.18”

Main crystal size: 0.3 × 0.2 cm = 0.12” × 0.08”

TML16AP7: Growth, on matrix, of lenticular Azurite crystals, with bright luster and an intense color, very vivid, with small crystallizations of Malachite.
The specimen, from a classic French locality from which it is difficult to find specimens of this quality, comes from the old collection of Robert-Auguste Touchon.
Cap Garonne Mine, Le Pradet, Toulon, Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur  France

Specimen size: 8.1 × 7 × 3.6 cm = 3.19” × 2.76” × 1.42”

MB86AB1: Superficial growths of transparent and very bright Azurite microcrystals that have a very intense color. They are on matrix, with intense green Malachite, acicular Olivenite microcrystals with a clearer green color, with olive shades, and with small laminar Baryte crystals. The sample is from a classic French locality, very well known by its wide variety of species, most of them “micro”.
Cap Garonne Mine, Le Pradet, Toulon, Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur  France

Specimen size: 8.7 × 7.5 × 3 cm = 3.43” × 2.95” × 1.18”

Main crystal size: 0.2 × 0.1 cm = 0.08” × 0.04”

EPQ56AP3: Flattened Chalcostibite crystals, very lustrous and finely striated, on matrix, with acicular Zinkenite crystals and very sharp rhombohedral Siderite crystals.
Saint-Pons area, Barcelonnette, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur  France

Specimen size: 3.9 × 2.8 × 2.2 cm = 1.54” × 1.10” × 0.87”

Main crystal size: 1 × 0.3 cm = 0.39” × 0.12”

TJK73AN5: Parallel growths of Bournonite crystals forming very sharp cyclic twins, on a matrix of rhombohedral Siderite crystals.
The specimen, of great quality for the locality, comes from the Alain Martaud collection, whose label we will send to the buyer.
Saint-Pons area, Barcelonnette, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur  France (2018)

Specimen size: 5.6 × 5.1 × 4 cm = 2.20” × 2.01” × 1.57”

Main crystal size: 1.1 × 1 cm = 0.43” × 0.39”

ELT16AO1: Vug with Celestine crystals with a prismatic habit, sharp, transparent, lustrous, and light blue in color. The specimen, from a little-known locality, comes from the Alain Martaud collection, whose label we will send to the buyer.
Oppedette, Reillanne, Forcalquier, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur  France (±1978)

Specimen size: 6.4 × 4.8 × 4.7 cm = 2.52” × 1.89” × 1.85”

Main crystal size: 1.5 × 0.7 cm = 0.59” × 0.28”

E85D: As strange, transparent and brilliant as the photo shows.
Sigoyer area, Forcalquier, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur  France (1994-1997)

Specimen size: 3.8 × 2.2 × 1.7 cm = 1.50” × 0.87” × 0.67”

E87NYJ3: Group of clear crystals with curious growths and deformations. In some of them the prism is absent, in others it is considerably enlarged. The luster is extraordinary.
Sigoyer area, Forcalquier, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur  France (1994-1997)

Specimen size: 8.7 × 5 × 6.2 cm = 3.43” × 1.97” × 2.44”

Main crystal size: 4.6 × 1.8 cm = 1.81” × 0.71”

TZQ88AN3: Druse of sharp, lustrous Fluorite crystals rich in inclusions. More transparent and ‘clean’ than is usual for specimens from this locality.
This specimen is from the Alain Martaud collection.
L'Avellan Mine, Massif L'Esterel, Fréjus, Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur  France (2009)

Specimen size: 10 × 8.5 × 4.6 cm = 3.94” × 3.35” × 1.81”

Main crystal size: 2.5 × 2 cm = 0.98” × 0.79”