Crystal Classics is proud to announce the acquisition of the Martin and Michael Günther mineral collection and greatly look forward to it being made available from January 28 to our customers visiting The Tucson Fine Mineral Gallery and our other venues throughout Tucson 2022.
Brothers Martin (on left in photo) and Michael (on right) Günther had three hobbies: fine wines, fine rugs, and fine minerals, of which the latter was a passion. Their mineral collection was outstanding in a quality rarely seen, with a focus on worldwide classics. To name but a few: native gold from the USA, Norwegian native silver, and stunning German sulphosalts present their love of ore minerals, yet the collection also comprised other numerous high-quality specimens, notably from Mexico and South Africa.
NATIVE GOLD, Eagle's Nest Mine, Sage Hill, Michigan Bluff District, Placer Co., California, USA
GALENA on SIDERITE, Neudorf, Harzgerode, Harz, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany
For much of the time, the Günthers lived in Neustadt an der Weinstraße, in Rhineland-Palatinate, a western state of Germany, which was the base for their collection. Martin, the older brother, was born in 1951 in Vöcklabruck, Austria. He made a legal career and became a judge at several courts in Germany. Just after the German reunification he moved to Erfurt in order to support the judicial system in former East Germany. Following this, he continued as a judge in several high courts.
Michael was born in 1956 in Neustadt. He made a geoscientific career and brought all of this knowledge into the collection. His diploma thesis was on the pegmatites of the Island of Seiland in Northern Norway, on which he had many excellent opportunities to collect minerals. Later he was awarded his doctoral degree for investigations on the genesis of the earth's upper mantle in South Africa.
ADAMITE, Ojuela Mine, Mapimí, Durango, Mexico
NATIVE SILVER, Norske Love, Vinoren Silver Mine Field, Flesberg, Viken, Norway
After the early death of Martin in April 2007, Michael continued developing the collection in both its quality and size. Very sadly, Michael died in July 2021, much too soon, leaving this important mineral collection characterized by their excellent taste and compiled with a high degree of sophistication through the brothers' vast knowledge of mineralogy and geology.
When visiting The Tucson Fine Mineral Gallery or Crystal Classics at any of our locations around Tucson, please mention this collection and we will be delighted to guide you through it.
