Tourmaline (ex Dave Bergman Collection)

Item Description

An old-time Tourmaline crystal from an undisclosed locality in Minas Gerais, Brazil. The piece is a very gemmy, very pale blue (nearly completely colorless) partial crystal with high luster, and well-defined striations along the prism. Unfortunately both ends are contacted, but the piece dates back close to 50 years ago, and is a nice example of what the crystals from Brazil looked like when they were coming out back then. This piece comes from the collection of Colorado mining legend, Dave Bergman. Dave is now retired from mining, but spent many years underground, including as the foreman and primary person in charge of recovering specimens at the famous Sweet Home Mine near Alma, Colorado during the late 1970s. He is also 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".