Description
Czech moldavite crystal, 0.58g, and the name of the mine it came out of.
Is moldavite only found in the Czech Republic
Effectively yes. It exists in one strewn field, laid down by a single meteorite impact in what is now Bavaria around fifteen million years ago, and almost all of that field sits under southern Bohemia and Moravia. There are much smaller recorded occurrences in Upper Austria, Germany and a little in southwestern Poland. In commercial terms, if a piece is genuine it came out of the Czech Republic.
Which is why the word Czech on its own tells you very little. Every seller uses it. The useful question is which part of the Czech Republic, and most listings go quiet at that point.
Why the mine name matters
This piece came out of the Chlum sand mine in South Bohemia. Gemmologists who visited the deposits and published in the Journal of Gemmology describe the sand and gravel quarry near Chlum nad Malsi as the largest moldavite mine currently in operation, where the stones come up as a by product of ordinary sand and gravel extraction. Not a dedicated gem mine. A working quarry, where moldavite is what turns up in the screens.
The same paper sets out what happens away from the quarries. Illegal digging is widespread in the forests, with pits hand dug two or three metres deep, tree roots cut through, and open holes left behind. Police patrol the localities.
The glass itself is identical whichever hole it came from. What separates one piece from another is whether anyone is willing to say. Every moldavite in the Grove is from Chlum, and it goes on the listing rather than being left vague.
About this piece
This Czech moldavite crystal weighs 0.58g. It is the palest so far in this batch, a light silvery sage green, and the frosting covers the whole surface so it glitters flat across the face rather than throwing single points of light. The form is broad and irregular with a stepped edge in profile, and it leans rather than standing upright. Undamaged, and not cut, tumbled or polished.
The paper notes that Chlum material tends to come up less rounded than moldavite from the northern deposits, which is why the surface on this one reads so clearly in a photograph. More on the journey a single piece has made in the guide to what moldavite does.
Pricing is £36 per gram flat across the batch, which puts this piece at £21. Most sellers on the first page start at a full gram, so a piece under a gram is the affordable way into a real Czech moldavite crystal.
What you receive
The piece in the photographs, which is the piece that arrives, together with the clear hexagonal display base shown. Nothing else is included. Wrapped and posted from Shropshire by Royal Mail Tracked.
One piece only. When it sells it is gone, because there is no second one like it. See the rest of the raw moldavite in the Grove.
