Watermelon Tourmaline slice (1972 classic Maine) ex Panczner Coll.

Item Description

Beautiful, highly desirable large polished slice of watermelon tourmaline from the famous late 1972 find at the Dunton Gem Quarry. The impressive trigonal crystal has a gorgeous rich raspberry-red gem core accented by the thin green rind. Read about the find in the 1975 Mineralogical Record article in Vol. 6, No. 1. Ex Bill Panczner Collection and acquired in the 1970s or 80s. Bill was the first Curator of Earth Science at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum in 1974 and the author of the 1987 book Minerals of Mexico. It is the most thorough summary of the subject. Read about Bill in the Mineralogical Record Biographical Archive at: https://mineralogicalrecord.com/labels.asp?colid=841. RARELY available today in this large size and quality, these are East Coast and Maine classics. Mass is 74 grams, so this is a slice of very good size and heft. This came from the single, famous pocket with red color in large size, much of which was cut into lapidary items. The polish is superb.