CHF 2.00 Rock crystal

Quartz (rock crystal) with intercalations of needle-shaped, brownish-red rutile (titanium dioxide). The rutile intercalations make the rock crystal particularly attractive. This exceptional crystal was found in 1963 in the upper Val Tremola, south of the top of the Gotthard Pass (Canton Ticino) when the new pass road was being built. The detail shows approx. 15 cm.

CHF 5.00 Titanite (sphene)

(Compound of calcium, titanium, silicate and oxygen). Also a mineral characteristically found in Alpine tension joints. This crystal, which had grown on crystalline rock, is 48 cm long and is one of the finest known in Switzerland. It was found in 1972 at the Passo del Narèt at the very top of the Maggia Valley in Canton Ticino.