Tourmaline

Item Description

These specimens came out in the mid 2000s, and were all identified and sold originally as the Tourmaline species Liddicoatite. Subsequent testing on this material shows that they may be one of a few species, or even multiple species could be present within the same crystal. There are several pieces posted on mindat.org which a caption that states these crystals, "may be fluor-liddicoatite, liddicoatite, elbaite or other species. Single xl XRD and WDS analysis are needed to confirm which species that are present in the crystal". With that said, we're simply leaving it as Tourmaline the group name in which all these individual species reside. This piece is a gorgeous display specimen featuring several deep purplish-pink (to nearly black) colored, fine quality, well-formed, trigonal prisms with beautiful pyramidal terminations, measuring up to 2.7 cm long, sitting on cream colored Albite matrix. When backlit, the terminations show decent translucency and the color really glows in areas. No damage I can find on the display side of the specimen. A really choice example of this short-lived material that is virtually unseen on the market today. For reference, this piece was mined in November of 2004.
From the collection of Jack Halpern No. 3478. Jack was born May 18, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York, but has been a long-time resident of San Francisco. He assembled one of the great mineral collections in the world encompassing over 3,200 specimens with a specific emphasis on color, quality, and style/aesthetics, which is evident in every piece. He admired specimens of all sizes from thumbnails to large cabinets and the vast majority of them rank from fine to world-class in their quality.
Above all else, Jack is considered to be the greatest gentleman in the modern era of mineral collecting. He is beloved by all those who have met him, and he truly is one of the most iconic figures in the mineral world. We recently acquired Jack's collection, and the VAST majority of these pieces will be offered here in the auctions, as we feel that everyone deserves and equal opportunity at acquiring these important, well-documented and fine quality pieces for their collections. We are honored to have the opportunity to offer Jack's treasures to everyone on a regular basis in the auctions.
We encourage you to read our blog post at https://www.irocks.com/the-jack-halpern-collection or his profile on the Mineralogical Record website https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/halpernjack/ for more information