Achtaragdite Handbag - Positive and Negative Tristetrahedron
Based on a specimen from Akhtaragda River, Russia
I had a good idea a few years ago as we were getting ready to go to the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show. I had just started making crystal models, and was looking for an easy way to let other collectors know what I was doing. Wouldn’t it be nice, I thought, to make a crystal model handbag and take it to the Tucson show as a conversation starter? The shape of the model I was currently planning seemed perfect for a handbag, and I could just imagine how great it would turn out! The problem was that I didn’t have much experience making models yet. I was still in the slow and careful stage, and I knew I didn’t have enough time left before our departure to finish a handbag.
At this point my father-in-law stepped in. An experienced woodworker, and the person who taught me the techniques I was using to make crystal models (you can see a photo of him with some of his amazing polyhedral models under the About Me section here), he volunteered to make the handbag for me as a birthday present. I finished drawing up the design, handed it off to him, and the week before we left for Tucson he gave me this amazing handbag!
The bag proved to be a very effective conversation starter, and I met a lot of interesting people carrying it through Tucson and many other mineral shows. Sometimes I wish I had chosen a different specimen to base the model on, though - something with a name that’s a little easier to pronounce, and that’s more familiar to other collectors!
The handbag at Tucson
These days I’m not only carrying the handbag, but also wearing a hat based on a topaz crystal. You can see it here
If you like the shape of this crystal and want to see another that’s similar, check out this tennantite. The dominant form is also a tristetrahedron, but with different modifications. I think it would also make an excellent handbag!
Model details: 7" across. Positive tristetrahedron faces are sycamore. Negative tristetrahedron faces are padauk.
Specimen details: Achtaragdite with positive and negative tristetrahedron faces. (Achtaragdite is a hydrogrossular-chlorite-carbonate pseudomorph after wadalite or another hydrogarnet) Akhtaragda River mouth, Vilyui River Basin, Mirninsky Dist., Sakha, Russia. 3.4 cm.