Tourmaline (rare locality specimen) (ex Bill Larson Collection)

Item Description

A very hard to find specimen from the Ed Fletcher Jr. Mine in Pala, just south of the famous Tourmaline King Mine. This locality dates back to 1914, and specimens are virtually impossible to find on the market. This particular specimen was self-collected by Bill Larson in the early 1960s as a kid while field collecting with his father. It's without question a distinctive, unusual and beautiful specimen consisting of a multi-terminated crystal section of vivid pink Tourmaline with a bit of attached Albite (var: Cleavelandite) on the back. When you rotate the specimen in the light, you can see a clear chatoyance on the surface, essentially a "cat's eye" effect along the thin striations of the multiple prism faces on the front of the piece. When you flip the specimen over, you'll notice that it's not broken on the back, but has in part re-crystallized ("re-healed") where it detached from the pocket wall. Even the thin edge along the side of the piece isn't broken, as I can clearly see small but distinct chatoyant striations. If you collect San Diego County minerals, worldwide Tourmalines or simply minerals from rare localities, this is a big deal, as you never see Ed Fletcher pieces anywhere. Don't miss out on this one. 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. You can read his biography at https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/larsonwilliam-f/