Tourmaline, Quartz, Beryl & Spessartine (3 specimens) (ex Bill Larson Collection)

Item Description

A cool assortment of specimens from the lesser known Blue Lady Mine. The largest specimen is a 7.7 x 3.3 x 1.8 cm jet black Schorl Tourmaline accented with a beautiful slightly smoky grey colored Quartz crystal near the termination, followed by a smaller, single Schorl crystal measuring 4.7 x 0.5 x 0.5 cm with no associated minerals. The third piece in the mix is a very pale blue colored Beryl crystal which plays host to very lustrous, gemmy, rich red colored trapezohedral crystals of Spessartine measuring up to 5 mm plus beautiful "flowers" of white bladed Albite (var: Cleavelandite). If you look closely at the termination of the Beryl, you can see it has a bit of a "bend" to it, where it clearly broke (possibly during tectonic movement) and then re-crystallized ("re-healed") creating the beautiful form. If you collect San Diego County minerals, this is a very worthwhile set for any fan of the obscure localities. From the collection of Bill Larson of Fallbrook, California. Bill is a well-known gem and mineral dealer as well as a miner and collector. Bill is synonymous with minerals of San Diego County, and owned and operated famous mines such as the Stewart Lithia, the Tourmaline Queen, the Pala Chief and the Himalaya, producing some of the most iconic mineral specimens to come out of the area during the 1970s-1980s. Bill is also known as "Burma Bill" and traveled the world for decades in search of fine gems and minerals, and was directly involved in the in-person acquisition and importation of superb specimens and stones from Myanmar (Burma). You can read his biography at https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/larsonwilliam-f/