Collector Spotlight: Alessio Bottiglieri

1. How many years have you been collecting, and what started your passion?

I’ve been collecting minerals for about 2 ½ years now. What started my passion was my experience with my first semester at the University of Texas at Dallas, where I took a rocks & minerals, or crystallography class. The class showed me how complex and diverse minerals could be, and just how beautiful minerals were.

2. What is the focus of your collection, and has it changed over time? Why?

My main focus is minerals in the garnet group, but I tend to gravitate towards any isometric minerals. I’m fascinated by the symmetry of isometric minerals, and the beauty of the dodecahedrons and trapezohedrons. I also prefer specimens in the cabinet-size range. When I first started collecting, I basically had a “trash can” of minerals, and I didn’t have a rhyme or reason to what I bought. However, as my taste developed, I began to gravitate towards specimens that had a nice “flow” of crystals on the matrix, and well-developed shapes.

3. What do you like to do outside of mineral collecting?

Currently I am in my last semester at UTD, getting a degree in Geosciences, which takes up most of my time, along with my beagle, Tiffany. Besides being a student and mineral collector, I am also a watch collector and love learning about horology in my spare time. My current watch collection includes a Rolex Explorer II, an Omega Speedmaster Professional, a Longine La Grande Classique, and a John Mayer G-Shock.I also enjoy cooking as much as I can; my favourite dishes to make are beef wellington, bangers and mash, creme brulee, and tiramisu.

4. What is your favorite/dream specimen outside of your collection? Why?

Gail and Jim Spann have an incredible rhodochrosite from the “Good Luck” pocket, from Sweet Home Mine, Colorado. The main crystal is incredibly euhedral, and saturated with red color, and on the bottom right, there is a perfect rhombohedron as an accent.

5. What is your favorite species, and why?

My favorite mineral species has to be grossular (remember, garnet is a group, not a single species), especially the cognac-colored grossulars from Jeffrey mine, or the bright pink crystals from Sierra Cruces. Both of these exhibit an unbelievable amount of beauty in their own individual ways.

6. What is your favorite locality, and why?

Despite my love for garnets, my favorite locality would actually be the Jonas mine, in Minas Gerais, Brazil. When I attended the 2019 Dallas mineral symposium, I heard a fantastic story about the discovery and acquisition of the world famous Jonas mine tourmalines. This story by Richard Freeman (which i highly suggest you listen to) stuck with me and made me fall in love with the locality as well as the raspberry-red tourmaline crystals.

7. Which specimen in your collection would you never let go of?

My Tongbei spessartine specimen was the first ‘large’ purchase. It was a tough one to get a hold of; I got into a pretty intense bidding war over it! This was also the first garnet I ever added to my collection. My first thought when I opened the box was, “this is spectacular, and I want more.”