Tourmaline (tri-color) (7.55 grams) (ex Richard A. Kosnar Collection)

Item Description

Here we have a fantastic old time Tourmaline crystal dating back to the 1970s from the famous Cruzeiro Mine in Brazil. This beautiful tri-color prism features a classic basal termination with a thin colorless "Achroite" zone that grades into a beautiful blue "Indicolite" hue which transitions into a beautiful pink "core". As a matter of fact, if you look at the base of the crystal, you'll see the blue area completely surrounds the pink zone, creating a "watermelon"-esque effect. The piece is complete all the way around, and while there are a few small imperfections, there is no major damage of note (save the bottom where it was removed from the pocket). The basal termination has some embedded Feldspar, which gives it a matte luster, but several of the prism faces are highly reflective. It is becoming rather difficult to obtain superb quality Tourmalines from many localities these days, as a lot of crystals end up being faceted into gemstones, but thankfully this beautiul miniature sized crystal has survived for many decades. Specimen weight is 7.55 grams. This piece comes from the collection of Richard A. Kosnar, the namesake for the phosphate Kosnarite, who had a strong presence importing minerals and gem material from Brazil in the 1970s.