Morganite & Tourmaline on Quartz (Morgenstein Coll.)

Item Description

The Stewart Mine is renowned for gorgeous, "hot-pink" tourmaline, but has also produced RARE morganite crystals and very fine bi-colored tourmalines, such as this excellent, old-time combination piece. A 2.0 cm, gemmy and lustrous, textbook hexagonal, pastel-pink morganite crystal is nicely perched above a field of lavender lepidolite crystals. One face of the morganite is contacted with embedded lepidolite, but has very negligible damage, overall. The other side of the piece hosts a striking 2.5 cm, bi-colored tourmaline crystal near the tip of a 5.9 cm, doubly terminated quartz crystal. This very glassy, striated tourmaline crystal is one-half black schorl followed by a classic, gemmy, "hot-pink" zone. The area below the quartz-covered termination is a very pretty, gemmy, sea foam-green. The DT quartz crystal and the tourmaline are essentially pristine. The rest of the piece is comprised of quartz crystals, lepidolite and two broken tourmalines. Contacting is noted, as are a few broken quartz crystals. This remains a rare, old-time, classic, high quality combination specimen from this renowned locale, dating to the 1960s or 70s. Ex Maury Morgenstein Collection, an old-time San Diego miner.