eCryptonite #029

The model used is a beautiful specimen of Rutile from Mount Kaputjugh on the border of Armenia/Azerbaijan

Excellent doubly terminated crystals that have very well defined faces and edges. The main crystal has a uniqe and very interessting crystal structure.

The crystals are lusterous with black/metallic color. You will see flashes of bright cherry-red under strong light. The surrounding matrix is Quartz.

These crystals are very hard to get on the market nowaday, and it came out of the mountains in the 1990s and they are recconed to be among the finest rutiles in the world


Mount Kaputjugh, Paragachai, Orubad District, Syunik Province, Armenia
Mount Kaputjugh, Paragachai, Orubad District, Syunik Province, Armenia (border Azerbaijan/Armenia)
Kaputjugh is the highest mountain in the Zangezur range, and it is on the forming the border between the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan and the Syunik Province of Armenia. It has an elevation of 3,905 metres.

This is the most important occurrence of excellent rutile (with black, lustrous crystals up to 5 cm) on all territory of the former USSR.

Here is the mindat location:
https://www.mindat.org/loc-10629.html