Tourmaline on Albite (var Cleavelandite) (ex Dave Bergman Collection)

Item Description

Most people are familiar the classic Tourmalines from San Diego County, but there are some select pegmatite localities to the north, which produce attractive specimens as well. This piece is a beautiful and aesthetic miniature specimen of Tourmaline from the lesser known Cahuilla Mountain locality in Riverside County, California - about 2 miles north of Lake Riverside. A 2.3 cm, sharp, lustrous multi-color Tourmaline crystal is associated with a "rosette" of off-white bladed Albite (var Cleavelandite) to creat a showy display quality specimen. When backlit, the basal termination glows with a rich blue Indicolite hue, that transitions into a strong green Verdelite color and ends with a black Schorl base. If you look closely, you'll see the termination is slightly "frosted", creating a nice contrast against the highly lustrous prism faces. Overall the piece is in great conditoin, and is remains one of the best examples that we've had to offer from this locality. Priced at $1,200 in the inventory. 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".