Tourmaline (bi-color) with Lepidolite

Item Description

Here we have a beautiful crystal of bi-color Tourmaline with lustrous, striated prism faces and good internal translucency. The majority of the crystal shows a glowing pink hue, but if you look closely, the termination is a wonderfully contrasting greenish-yellow shade. The crystal is covered with little groups of rich purple "Lepidolite" Mica and a bit of white bladed Albite on the back. Now it must be noted that Lepidolite is no longer a valid mineral species, and according to the scattered information we found, Lepidolite is defined as a mineral in the so-called Polylithionite-Trilithionite series. Webmineral.com still reports that it's a valid species, and the IMA list online ( http://nrmima.nrm.se//IMA_Master_List_%282018-11%29.pdf ) no longer recognizes Lepidolite. The piece is in good shape, with no major damage, and it's complete all the way around. It would make a nice addition to any Tourmaline suite, a gem crystal collection, or a Brazilian collection.