Schorl (flattened crystal)

Item Description

Typically Schorl is found in prismatic elongated crystals, and while I've seen more stout and equant examples from various localities, it's rare to find compressed, discoidal examples like this. This piece is a sharp, lustrous, flattened/compressed near "floater" crystal of jet-black Schorl from the Möng Long locality near the town of Kyaukme. The piece is contacted in a few spots, so it's not damage-free, but it is crystallized on the back, so it's mostly complete all around. The tan spots on the crystal seem to be embedded pocket clay, most likely the remains of Feldspar that once existed in the pocket which were dissolved by some kind of solution in the pocket, leaving the Schorl crystals behind. A strange piece to be sure, and certainly worth picking up if you're a fan of Tourmalines. From the collection of Bill ("Burma Bill") Larson of Fallbrook, California. Bill is a well-known gem and mineral dealer as well as a miner and collector. Bill traveled the world for decades in search of fine gems and minerals, and was directly involved in the in-person acquisition and importation of superb specimens and stones from Myanmar (Burma). You can read his biography at https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/larsonwilliam-f/