Lepidolite with Tourmaline on Quartz (RARE locality specimen)

Item Description

A rarely seen and dramatic Lepidolite specimen from the famous locality at Paprok, Afghanistan. While this locality is best known for its amazing Tourmalines, Kunzites and other gem pegmatite minerals, it's incredibly rare to find such a showy display quality specimen of Lepidolite like this piece. A 5.2 cm long group of layered Lepidolite is dramatically flaring out of a matrix composed of bright green Tourmaline crystals and colorless Quartz to create a rather three-dimensional specimen. The Lepidolite varies in color from a GLOWING pinkish-purple hue at the top to a soft golden color at the base. Overall, the Lepidolite is in good shape, but there is a bit of roughness in spots where it was attached to the pocket wall. I honestly have never had a piece quite like this to offer in the auctions from Paprok, and if you collect pegmatite minerals or have a passion for display quality specimens of Mica, don't miss out on this one. I was told this piece came from a single pocket circa 2010-2011, and nothing else like it was found again. If you think about the number of Mica specimens in the world, how many of them are this dramatic, showy and colorful with FREE-STANDING crystals like this!? To top it off, the piece comes with a FREE acrylic display base! Priced in our inventory at $1,800.

It should be noted that Lepidolite is no longer a valid mineral species (it's now defined as a series between Polylithionite and Trilithionite), but until it has a true definition from the IMA, most people are still using the term because it's been in use for over 100 years.