Tourmaline on Quartz (classic material)

Item Description

Maine is famous for producing some of the finest Tourmaline crystals in North America. Some of the oldest gem mineral localities in the United States are in Maine. This piece is labeled as coming from "Oxford, Maine" (actually Oxford County), but the exact locality is not known. Perhaps it's from Mount Mica or the Dunton Quarry, but it's impossible to know for sure. With that said, it's a nice reference specimen of this beloved classic material. The piece hosts many thin, prismatic, dark blue-green colored crystals of Tourmaline, which are embedded on smoky grey colored massive Quartz matrix. The Tourmalines are a bit crude, but they do show good luster along the prism faces, and small areas show decent internal gemminess when backlit. If you've ever wanted a matrix specimen of Maine Tourmaline, this is a decent example of these famous specimens.