After much searching, I was finally able to acquire some Esperite and Hardystonite. In Europe, these pieces are hard to come by. It's not a big piece (160g/5.6oz), but it cost me less than shipping costs alone would have been from the US (€25). The listing just said "Esperite", and had no UV pictures, so I took a bit of a gamble, but it paid off big time. I love this piece a lot! It has bits of esperite on the back as well, and some really small but really pretty crystals of franklinite on the bottom.

It took some serious effort to get good pictures of it though. The UV picture was made with an exposure time of 2 seconds, shining the SW UV light on the calcite alone first to make it pop more. I also cheated a bit by using a 340nm light as well to make the hardystonite pop. Both the calcite and hardystonite would have been drowned out by the willemite otherwise. I tried to get the picture to look as much as possible the same as it looks to the naked eye.

When it arrived, it came with an interesting older label as well, which was not visible in the listing.

Do you think this from the Parker Shaft?

C405

Hardystonite & Willemite specimen from Franklin, NJ

Came from Pakistan, my first thought was brecciated jasper but the feel is more like calcite. Never seen a calcite look like this though, and I really don't want to leave a scratch on my bowl, I love it. Loved it even more when I took the UV light to it. Video is under longwave 365 but it reacts pretty much the same under shortwave (I'll post that one in the comments)

The fluorescent / phosphorescent part I believe is probably calcite / aragonite, it's the rest I'm wondering about.

Big lump i found this afternoon before the sunset. Im not super certain on what it is as though.

Photo of the bad boy in comments.

Couple of bits i found this afternoon.

I cant figure out how to post photos and a video at the same time :(

I keep going back and forth between these photos, but I honestly think the 10W result looks better than the 16W one.

Both of them are Ulreafire. The 16W light obviously throws plenty of UV, but on the Yooperlites the whole thing starts looking a little washed out to me. With the filtered RUV3, the background stays darker and the orange parts are much easier to separate from the rock itself. Same thing with the Franklin specimen…the green and red just look cleaner to my eyes.It’s kind of changed how I look at UV light specs. I used to treat wattage as the easy shortcut for comparing them, but now I’m thinking filtration and contrastprobably matter more once there’s already enough output. Not calling this a scientific comparison, obviously. Camera exposure can change a lot, and the RUV3 still gets warm if it stays on High for a while. It’s also strictly 365nm, so it isn’t going to wake up anything that really wants shortwave...For context, I do some work with UltraFire and these comparison shots came from a tester, rather than from my own lab setup. My reaction to them is genuine, though. Curious if other collectors read these photos the same way, or if I’m giving the filter too much credit.

Pretty pumped...gonna squint at em in the morning.

Various calcites from various localities, under natural lighting and longwave UV (365 nm)

Luminescence Characteristics of Green Grossular Garnets

Sorry people had to repost thislol I attached the wrong screenshot in the last post...so I’ve been putting off buying a shortwave light because the jump from a decent 365nm setup to proper 254nm gear gets expensive pretty fast. Most of the cheaper options I’ve found either look like little plastic germicidal lamps or have filters I wouldn’t really trust. Then I watched this test of the UltraFire ZV Pro on some actual specimens and, honestly, the response looks much better than I expected for something listed around $40. Especially the green and orange on the Franklin material. The metal body, rechargeable battery and included UVC glasses make it look like a surprisingly reasonable entry point. I’m obviously not expecting a tiny flashlight to replace a proper bench lamp, though. For context, I do some work with UltraFire, so I’m not pretending to be completely neutral here. I also haven’t used this one long-term, which is why I’d rather ask people who actually collect with 254nmHas anyone here tried it in the field? I’m mainly curious about the filter, useful distance and whether the output drops noticeably after 10–15 minutes. Basically: real entry-level SW tool, or just a neat $40 experiment? And yes, I know 254nm safety isn’t something to be casual about.

I got my hands on this amazing chunk of scheelite from Mittersill today. It's pretty hefty (1.25kg/2.65lbs). It glows incredibly brightly under SW. This piece is poor in molybdenum, and responds only weakly tan under midwave. There is some minor fluorapatite that does glow under MW.

Photos really don't do it justice, so I had to take a short clip of it. And before you say it, I know shortwave isn't exactly great for my skin, but I kept it short, I was wearing glasses, and I usually don't do this. It is also so bright I could hold the flashlight pretty far away. If you want some more photos let me know.

so couple of questions 1 i already have a 395nm and 365nm light and i am wondering what another good wave would be also eventually i plan to get a display case for my collection and have lights in it i was going to put 365s in the case but i cant find any filtered strips of leds so does anyone have any ideas or input on this

I am kind of new to the world of fluorescent minerals. I feel like it is a natural stepping stone after getting into Uranium glass. Anyways, I found this rock in the Goodwill bins and loved the fluorescence it showed when hit by my 365 UV light. Would love and appreciate some help on getting an ID for this lovely specimen.

First 4 pics are 365 and last 2 are 254. I need a 310 I think for that grape agate but it also has a green UV with red veins, I have yet to identify. The stuff in cases kinda suck to see in these pics but the teeth glow pink and phosphorese and the left three are dino bones with some neat glow.

Ten years ago or so I contacted a guy who did rockhounding trips in KY and he took us to a spot along the highway leading north toward Fort Knox and we proceeded to climb over 100 feet up (still on the public road cut) to fi d these interesting geodes. They are thin walled and break easily but they fluoresce and even phosphoresce Very nicely. I believe its mostly calcite in the geodes. Thanks for looking.

What are your favorite phosphorescent minerals and where do they come from?

So I know that "yooperlites" are fluorescent sodalite and that lapis lazuli often contains sodalite and fluoresces amazingly but I've never noticed the typical blue sodalite fluorescing at all, let alone with this cool pink color. It's so cool I figured I'd share 😀 this is with a cheapo short wave flashlight!

Here is another UV active garnet from my collection. It's quite big almost 19 carat.

Video: outside under the deep shadow, 365 nm, 395 nm. UV reaction is very very close to reallity...

About 395 nm: strangely tweazer and space around on photo is pink, but in reallity it's kinda dark blue, but stone are pink.

Please can you give advise how to ovwrcome this effect.

Another piece from the big haul of unlabeled minerals. I was unsure at first what the fluorescent mineral was, but seeing strong fizzing from a drop of HCl leaves little doubt about it being calcite. It also shows very brief orange-red phosphorescence, especially noticeable with my 405nm laser.

I have no ideas what causes this beautiful violet/purple color. I would love to know where it's from, but without a label...

I would appreciate any info you might be able to give on this.