Tourmaline (bicolor)

Item Description

Here we have a lovely miniature size pastel crystal with an attractive pyramidal termination, glassy luster and good gem clarity at the termination. Afghanistan has truly produced some of the most attractive Tourmaline specimens around for the last 25 years or so, and they have really held their own against Tourmalines from other world localities. This crystal has vivid/rich pink termination which grades into a lovely green / blue-green hue at the base, with a very slight colorless area in the center. The crystal is sitting on a sculptural group of beige Albite matrix. The piece is complete all the way around, and the termination has a very high "wet" luster, which is not common for these crystals. It is becoming more and more difficult to obtain superb quality Tourmalines from Paprok for decent prices, as the locals seem to be charging more and more for them after each new find. It has also come to my attention that the Chinese are buying up a large percentage of the gem grade Tourmalines from this area, so less and less material is available on the market in recent years. Valued at $3600.