14 February 2013

The "Empress of Uruguay"


Do you have an amethyst-lined geode on a bookcase shelf?  This immense one is currently on display at The Crystal Caves near Cairns.  Here are the FAQs.

Found at Cliff Pickover's Reality Carnival.

5 comments:

  1. It is a big one and the color is very good (if it hasn't been "adjusted", but The biggest in the world... NOPE. Not by a considerable margin.
    I've been to the Tucson Gem and Mineral shows and seen 4 in a row that were bigger.
    I might add that if you are looking to buy one of these, check carefully the nice white calcite is often hot glued in. On better ones they use super glue.
    And truthfully sometimes they are real.

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    Replies
    1. I'll take your word on that. I've adjusted the text to remove the hyperbole. Thanks, rocky.

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    2. Funny, I can't find a record of one larger than this one. It is 2 1/2 tons! and over 11 feet tall. Please.. I have never seen one at a show this large, if you have, show proof!

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  2. I had a look at their website and it seems real enough, but it was dug out of a mine in Uruguay ( hence the name ) for a price of $75,000 Australian. And it is now a tourist attraction in Australia?! That seems a shame to me. Something like this seems kind of like a "national treasure" that should be in a museum in Uruguay, attracting tourism revenue. I know that, in the past, colonialist nations like England stole all sorts of treasures from other countries, like the Elgin Marbles, but in this day and age, it wouldn't happen.

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  3. Been there and confirm that the colour is a spectacular deep purple in real life. However it should be spelt "The Crystal 'Caves' " as it's not actually a set of caves, but a basement that has been decorated with fibre-glass mouldings to look like a cave, with different examples of crystals embedded in the moulding.

    Interesting idea, probably more interesting than just having the crystals in display cabinets, but kind of discombobulating to find that out after driving for 2 hours to see it.

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