DT gemmy Tourmaline

Item Description

This stunning, limpid elbaite crystal has good luster and is totally transparent through much of its body. Weighing 38 grams, it is a substantial full miniature. This crystal exhibits a lovely cranberry-red color with a slight, 1 mm transparent and colorless zone atop the termination. Technically it appears that two crystals grew together in parallel growth to produce this stepped termination - which is amazingly glassy and lustrous (so much so that my first instinct was that it was polished, though I am convinced otherwise after close examination and in fact due to the slight chipping on edges which could have been removed otherwise. The crystal actually is doubly-terminated, though the bottom pointy termination is not totally pristine and has a few conchoidal shallow dings. Overall, stunning, super gemmy and rare in this color and quality from this locale. Ex Dr. Jim Gebel Collection. A recycled but certainly memorable old auction item, exchanged back to us recently.