Tourmaline (doubly-terminated crystal) (ex Dave Bergman Collection)

Item Description

A wonderful miniature specimen from the most famous Tourmaline locality in Pakistan. Here we have a fine, sharp, lustrous, polychrome DOUBLY-TERMINATED Tourmaline crystal which features an "Achroite" (colorless") pyramidal termination that grades into a vibrant green hue, then into a very dark brownish-green / black zone in the center and ending with a beautiful green (with a slight blue overtone) basal termination on the other end. The piece is nearly a complete "floater" as it is crystallized on all sides, but a few tiny points of attachment prevent it from being a true "floater". Some small white bladed Albite ("Cleavelandite") make for a really great touch. No major damage anywhere, and it's a far cry from your typical Stak Nala specimen as we rarely see doubly-terminated crystals with "Achroite" terminations like this. Valued at $950 retail. The specimen weight is 14.38 grams. Ex Dave Bergman Collection. Dave is a Colorado miner (formerly the foreman and primary person in charge of recovering specimens at the famous Sweet Home Mine near Alma, Colorado during the late 1970s) and the maternal grandfather of Brian Kosnar. See Dave's photo mining at the Sweet Home on page 58 of Peter Bancroft's book "Gem and Crystal Treasures". The piece was given to Dave as a gift by his son-in-law, Rich Kosnar in June of 1984 and the hand-written label from Kosnar accompanies the piece.