Tourmaline with Albite

Item Description

A wonderful miniature specimen from this famous Tourmaline locality in San Diego County. Some of the most iconic Tourmalines from any US locality have come from this mine. This piece features a fine, sharp, lustrous, Tourmaline crystal featuring a beautiful yellow-green termination that grades into that classic pink hue associated with this mine. A wonderful "rose" of white-bladed Albite (var. Cleavelandite) is beautifully set along the side of the crystal, and I can see a tiny blade of purple "Lepidolite" as well on top of the Albite. The Tourmaline is actually doubly-terminated, as the base of the crystal was broken at one point and recrystallized ("re-healed"), making this piece nearly a complete "floater" specimen. There is a slight amount of a "cat's eye" effect that can be seen in the green portion of the crystal when it's rotated in the light. No major damage anywhere that I can find. A wonderful example of these famous old crystals from the 1970s. The specimen weight is 48.70 grams. From the collection of Colorado mining legend, Dave Bergman. Dave is now retired, but among other things, he was 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". Ex Brian Kosnar specimen. Donated to the Rice Museum by a local donor, for this benefit auction.