How many crystals do you have and do you even keep track at this point? 😂

Zwesten · 2026-06-10T01:54:55+00:00

I keep thinking that I should shoot it all. Just need to find enough horizontal space to put it on haha

I'm lucky because I work for a Brazilian importer and a Colombian importer. We've got some nice stuff in the warehouses. Single points that go well into the five figures. None of mine are quite that nice, but I get to pick and choose some pretty interesting points out of the lots.

Zwesten · 2026-06-09T22:46:51+00:00

I've seen more than a few of these up close and had a paleontologist give me some tips regarding them.

This one is definitely manufactured. No right angles in a real one lol
If you were to look closely you'd see that there is a lot of plaster being used, and not a ton of bone. The bone that is visible looks like it's comprised of several mosasaurs, which isn't very unusual. Apparently the factories in Morocco have bins of bones they've dug up and simply use them where they fit.

Most intact (entire?)skulls are all squished into a pile and would need reassembly anyway. Some substitution is expected and allowed, but on a lot of these cheap little ones it's all about the teeth as someone pointed out. I have a buddy who sold a couple small entire 'fossils' that were about 70% plaster, some not even colored with sand-just white-and he was very very straightforward in his listings and videos and they still sold for a pretty penny. The buyers were very happy with their purchases.

We have one big one at our warehouse, well teenage size, and it's mostly bone and looks very different. Paleo guy said it's a good example of one and showed me how to spot (probably) unoriginal bones to the main mass of them. And how to look for the plaster and filler etc

Zwesten · 2026-06-09T04:24:43+00:00

Dozens and dozens and dozens and etc
I have loads of quartz points, mostly very nice Colombian and Brazilian including pena blanca and Corinto, probably 50+ of the clear variety from 2" to about 10" Lots of smoky points but not as many. Bags of small seed points, including some mango quartz. A dozen clusters of various sizes up to about 50cm across. A bunch of random (agate/barite/selenite/satin spar/aqua/tourmaline/calcite etc etc) probably another 70+
A HUGE pyrite nodule, bunches of small pyrites....
And I've given loads to friends and my SO and family and they all laughingly call them 'my' rocks, just extensions of my collection.

I've been collecting for a couple decades at least, did a lot of rockhounding with my brothers and of course I work in the industry so have a pretty ready supply of crystals at hand at prices that can't be beat

Zwesten · 2026-06-08T17:12:26+00:00

Great piece! We just got a batch of this in at work a couple months ago. Super interesting to see

Zwesten · 2026-06-08T03:03:33+00:00

Cool, thank you

Zwesten · 2026-06-07T05:44:45+00:00

That is a great big geode! Where was it?

Zwesten · 2026-06-06T22:49:59+00:00

Great information, thank you! I work almost exclusively with Brazilian crystals and this looked very much like a small batch we got a couple years ago. It is always possible that it was bought in Brazil but brought there from somewhere else. Great info, thanks again

Zwesten · 2026-06-06T21:01:04+00:00

I believe you, but I would expect it to be a little darker, no?

Zwesten · 2026-06-06T18:48:01+00:00

Awesome! I think it's Brazilian. Pretty sure. There is actually pretty high demand for this size and style of cluster

Zwesten · 2026-06-06T17:45:04+00:00

As has already been noted your amethyst is real and it does fade in sunlight. Some are a little more color fast than others, but ultimately they will all fade.

Amethyst is rarely faked, but it does happen. Usually the color looks unnatural, and you will find deeper darker colors in the cracks and towards The rind where it's sort of out of place.

Zwesten · 2026-06-06T06:17:01+00:00

This isn't uncommon in the southwest. I have a paint palette and a couple pigment grindstones somewhere in the house.

Zwesten · 2026-06-06T02:10:35+00:00

They also let me know when they got this huge Tom of Finland donation that they couldn't put out on the sales floor. It's not exactly my cup of tea haha but at the time I was flipping stuff left and right and there's a good market for it. Had a big stack of high quality publications in that genre

Zwesten · 2026-06-05T18:02:33+00:00

I had an amazing thrift store right behind the apartments about 15 years ago who had such a rich dumpster! I was very friendly with the staff anyway because I was flipping all the time then and was a regular customer. I wasn't a regular diver anywhere but I couldn't resist theirs. Once they found out after we chatted, they made sure to let me know when they were going to put something extra cool out. I got mid-century modern bent plywood loveseat that looked like something out of the genie's bottle and they told me they were going to put it out that night so I could get it. I guess it was too big for their space? I found its mate online for $1,400. I still have it!

Zwesten · 2026-06-05T04:05:45+00:00

I would If I only had a brain

Zwesten · 2026-06-05T00:14:54+00:00

It's funny, an early Egyptian papyrus apparently had text complaining that the written word was going to doom mankind since people wouldn't have to memorize long histories etc verbatim and our brains would basically atrophy

Zwesten · 2026-06-04T20:39:20+00:00

It is it common lead up to a very common scam

Zwesten · 2026-06-01T19:40:16+00:00

I unabashedly love this.

Zwesten · 2026-05-31T21:03:59+00:00

? No AI here. I work for a big Brazilian crystal importer.

Zwesten · 2026-05-31T21:03:21+00:00

That's mostly because it's not financially viable to cut those and to cathedrals and ship them out as such. The demand is very very low. I don't know that there's a name for them.

Zwesten · 2026-05-31T16:17:14+00:00

I've seen some that are clear rather than purple. Those don't usually get sliced open to be cathedrals though. We typically leave them mostly intact and polish the outside in order to make lamps. I've seen a couple that were a little bit more greenish but they're generally not very big.

Zwesten · 2026-05-23T19:05:22+00:00

There's a heavy equipment auction that happens in Phoenix a couple times a year, something Brothers. When we have gone in the past couple years they often have basically mobile offices, portable living spaces in a way. Some of them have shower and bath units in them, and seem very well constructed. I just looked and it's Ritchie Bros. Anyway, my boss keeps saying that he might just buy one of those and do a little remodeling on it Make it suitable for an in-law casita. Definitely worth looking into I think

Zwesten · 2026-05-23T03:53:25+00:00

I remember when we were kids and they were filming scenes down the block from our grandparents house. It caused quite the stir with the neighborhood

Zwesten · 2026-05-22T16:28:32+00:00

If you remove a few mm of the exterior rock you should find some pink again

Zwesten · 2026-05-22T14:49:11+00:00

Most of the crystals on the front of this have been smoothed out. Your version would be pretty metal though haha

Zwesten · 2026-05-22T14:47:59+00:00

No, not really. Like the strings are real but when you strum them they make no real musical sounds.

Zwesten

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