Fluorite from La Barre in Puy de Dôme (63, France)

Discover photographs of fluorite from La Barre in Puy de Dôme (63, France)

Fluorite from La Barre, in the Puy-de-Dôme region, is renowned for the fineness of its crystallization and the variety of its colors. It most often occurs as translucent to transparent cubes, violet, sky blue, honey yellow, or sometimes greenish in color, with frequent internal zoning highlighting the growth of the crystals. Some specimens reveal a colorless core surrounded by thin purple or blue bands, producing superb optical effects. These fluorites are found in hydrothermal veins encased in the region’s granites and volcanic rocks, in association with quartz, barite, galena, and sphalerite. Several pieces show elegant epitaxial growths or tiered clusters of well-formed cubes, sometimes partially corroded. Their fluorescence under UV light, often bluish, enhances the aesthetic appeal of this classic Auvergne deposit.