Rubellite Tourmaline (RARE locality specimen!) (ex Henry de Linde Collection)

Item Description

When it comes to Rubellite Tourmaline, most people will probably think of localities in Brazil, San Diego County or even Afghanistan, but this piece is from a pegmatitic quarry in FINLAND! The locality has been mined for feldspar going to back to the 1960s, but specimens are virtually impossible to find on the market. A portion of the quarry features a lithia pegmatite, where beautiful crystals of pink Tourmaline, Beryl (Morganite) and Spodumene (Kunzite) have been found. This piece features attractive, rich pink color, gemmy to translucent, thin prismatic crystals of Rubellite measuring up to about 1.1 cm which are sitting on Smoky Quartz matrix with associated strong purple colored "Lepidolite" along with some cream colored blocky crystals of feldspar. The label accompanying the piece states that there is "Scapolite" present on the specimen, but no species of Scapolite has been reported from this locality. Admittedly, this piece probably isn't going to win any prizes for the finest Rubellite in the world, but if you're a Tourmaline collector, you can't afford to miss out on this incredibly interesting specimen from this little-known locality in Finland. When I first saw this piece, I thought it had to either be from Brazil or Pala, so imagine how blown away I was when the label said Finland on it. Additionally, the piece comes with the actual shipping label from a Prof. Vochten in Antwerp, Belgium, who personally sent this specimen to Hendy de Linde on September 22, 1989. It's nearly impossible to ascertain a fair market value for such and elusive locality specimen, but I can promise that we don't have anything else from this locality to offer, and we may not have one again for a long time, so don't pass it up. From the collection of Henry de Linde (March 21, 1923 – April 4, 2019) of Hot Spring, Arkansas. Henry was one of the most prominent figures in the history of Arkansas mining and mineral collecting. Along with being a miner, mineral collector and an amateur mineralogist, de Linde was one of the founders of the Coon Creek Association mineral club. He was the owner of several key localities in Arkansas including the Diamond Jo Quarry (on the south rim of Magnet Cove), the type locality for Delindeite, which was named in his honor in 1987.