Indicolite Tourmaline (Ex. Bill Larson Coll.)

Item Description

Beautiful, classic, old-time indicolite tourmaline from the renowned Tourmaline Queen Mine, source of the world renowned 1972 "Blue Cap Pocket". The stout, trigonal, highly lustrous, well-striated prism looks like a very dark blue tourmaline in normal light, BUT good backlighting (or sunlight) reveals a gorgeous translucenrt indicolite-blue body followed by a 5 mm teal-blue zone below the 1 mm pebbly, matte-lustre purple pinacoidal termination. Complete all-around and nearly pristine, with only a bit of termination edge and side wear. These were recovered during the artisanal high grading period of the 1950s and 60s, before Ed Swoboda bought the mine in 1968 and the official and systematic remining of the Queen by Swoboda and Larson in 1971. Indicolite was what they were looking for, for the gem trade - not for mineral specimens at the time, as that would not have paid the bills! The economics were different then. Today, the crystals would pay it off , but back then, the money was in the gems. A significant crystal, of history. 117 grams mass. See MINDAT: https://www.mindat.org/loc-3564.html and the fine 2002 Mineralogical Record article in Vol. 33, No. 5. Ex Bill Larson San Diego County Pegmatite Collection (self-collected!) and long on display at his Pala International shop in Fallbrook. Classic, fine and uncommon old Queen Mine indicolite.