Tourmaline (classic CA oldtimer) Bill Larson Coll.

Item Description

An impressive and deceptive, hefty and wied 528 gram classic "green skinned" tourmaline from the famous Litlle Three Mine. The very glassy, highly lustrous, well-striated crystal appears to be very dark green to black schorl in normal light. Backlighting reveals a gemmy/translucent olive-green body below an opaque black schorl termination area. This is a typical style of large tourmalines for the locale, with the green verdelite tourmaline wrapped around a schorl core - and unique to this one mine in all of San Diego County;'s mineral wealth. Complete all-around and essentially pristine, with only trivial edge wear. This fine crystal dates to the Louis Spalding collecting era of the 1970s and 80s, and from him to Bill Larson (mine owner to mine owner). The Ramona District is unique to the region in producing major amounts of gem-grade and specimen-grade topaz and spessartine. See the 2002 Mineralogical Record article in Vol. 33, No. 5. Ex Bill Larson San Diego County Pegmatite Collection and long on display at his Pala International shop in Fallbrook. A classic and excellent large tourmaline from the Little Three Mine. Valued $3000