Tourmaline (ex Willard Wulff Collection)

Item Description

A very attractive and classic gemmy Tourmaline crystal from San Diego County, California (most likely the Himalaya Mine). The crystal is pink in color, with good sharp, lustrous, striated faces and nice internal translucency. A small pit of purplish "Lepidolite" can be seen near the base of the crystal as well. I put "Lepidolite" in quotes because it must be noted that it 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. This crystal comes from the collection of Willard W. Wulff (1904-1998) of Colorado Springs, Colorado, a prominent figure and collector of Colorado minerals. Wulff was one of the founding members of the Colorado Springs Mineralogical Society in 1936. You can read Willard's bio on the Mineralogical Record website here ( http://www.minrec.org/labels.asp?colid=1528 ). The pieces come mounted in a "Perky" box from Wulff that states the specimen is from Mesa Grande. A wonderfully historic and eye-catching piece of this well known material from at least a few decades ago.