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of Pala International/William Larson
ex. William Larson
This hillock of albite, stark white and bladed, hosts a 4 x 4 x 3 cm multicolored tourmaline crystal atop. The photos do not do it justice, as they de-emphasize color when we light it without putting it in a case as you would display. It is, in person, fairly gemmy when backlit with even a half decent light. It has the classic purple zoning of some tourmalines from this mine, and excellent lustre. Although there is a crack in one lateral line through part of the tourmaline, it does not go through and the piece is unrepaired, as the albite held it solidly together. Matrix examples of these purple-capped Stewart pieces are uncommon and this is an excellent example particularly for the price range. As I said, it really is more impressive in person. 1200 grams
ex. William Larson
An unusual locality piece from this mine chiefly known for its quartz, and rather small in size. This specimen hosts 3 beryl crystals. The upper one is a gemmy , pale pink morganite, 3 cm across, showing its full window-like hexagonal face to the viewer. A larger, barrel-shaped crystal of 3.5 cm is at the midpoint of the specimen. These both have a pale pink color. The hexagonal crystal smack in the middle is more colorless, and could be called a goshenite. Unusual locality piece.
ex. William Larson
Morganite from this mine is, typically, admixed with aquamarine and of pale color. This is an unusual specimen with barrel-shaped hexagonal crystals, extremely gemmy and clean inside, to 3.5 cm. The horizontal crystal, 3.5-cm across, is complete and doubly-terminated. The slightly fatter crystal, approx 3 x 3 x 3 cm in size, has a conchoidal shallow , curving break on its upper edge of the termination. Neverthless it displays well and the piece overall is good for the mine.
ex. William Larson
A classic association for the mine, and I think unique, these pink-included quartzes are set up nicely on the same base for display. This set is one of the most beautiful and balanced such examples I have seen, out of a County collection. It is a matched set consisting of both halves of a large crystal (itself, a floater!). The smaller section fits snugly atop the larger, and you can see that the crystal then tapered off at that lower edge, so nothing is missing on the shorter half. The color is very good for this material, and the polish is of high quality (unusually so). Size given is for the largest crystal half. They come displayed together on a shared lucite base.
ex. William Larson
A very rare, old, King Mine tourmaline from this historic locality. Seldom do you see a valid example for sale, with the classic pink core, blue-grey zone atop, and characteristic lustre. This one is so gemmy, you can look down into it from the top, through the glassy clear termination. 33 grams
ex. William Larson
A superb, sharp miniature with exceptional crystals of pyrite (rare for the County) which were replaced by the mineral limonite in perfect symmetry-preservation. These are VERY uncommon, and highly desired among county collectors. I am told that this is one of the very finest pieces from a small pocket found in the 1980s by mine owner Roland Reed.
ex. William Larson
A weird, recrystallized tourmaline specimen that broke as it formed and then renewed growth from the breakpoint…A bizarre piece, but not ugly at all! In person, it looks like somebody squeezed a tourmaline-flower and the red goo inside blurted out the top. VERY unusual tourmaline from ANYwhere. Old piece, from the 1960s
ex. William Larson
It is actually quite difficult to get really top quality lepidolite in this richness from the mine today, but once it was very famous for beautiful lavender lepidolite, often shot through with embedded pink tourmalines. This 6 cm sphere is a very uniform and rich color, of highest grade carving rough from the mine. The associated piece of polished rough is simply a freebie to show how the rough looked when it started.
ex. William Larson
This is a beautiful rosy pink tourmaline fragment, missing its top and (partially) rehealed on that broken termination. It is thus obviously significant as a colorful piece to display from the locality, more than for quality as a tourmaline per se. Coahuila tourmalines are rare, and seldom seen, and its an important locality from the old history books that was only rediscovered in the 1970s and worked sparsely after that. 125 grams
ex. William Larson
A 7 x 5 x 4 cm schorl in association with quartz and albite - a gret combo piece, unusual for the locality in both its size and aesthetic arrangement. The schorl has damage on the back-left edge as shown, but it still displays nicely
ex. William Larson
An old and little-known locaiton today, the Esmeralda was mined heavily in the early 1900s and this piece may well date back that far. It is unusual in that citrine is rare for the County.
ex. William Larson
A beautiful polished section of a large and unusually clear quartz crystal, showing delicate, individual sprays of montmorillonite within. The pale pink sprays are beautiful, unusual, and unique in this form to the mine. Considered a locality classic!
ex. William Larson
A rare and small locality, this place produced only a few pockets of good material so far, and this beryl comes from one of them. At 50 grams, and juicy blue color, it is a respectable County Aqua from a locality most people will never hear of. Although it has some damage to the sides and back of the termination, it does display well and is colorful, and unusual for County.
ex. William Larson
A sharp, exceedingly gemmy , classic blue topaz crystal from this mine which is reknowned for them. Hard to find these days, though. This crystal displays very well, though has a little bit of damage to the sides (or it would be $1000)
ex. William Larson
A very old , very sharp morganite crystal that makes for a cute small miniature. It is unusually gemmy and well-formed, for this locality, complete save s bit of damage at the top-right-rear of the termination. A small hint of purple lepidolite included in the base narrows the mine origin to the Pala region, correspoding with the old labels stating "Pala" as locality. Bill then narrowed it down to King Mine. This was in the Scott Williams collection by 1958. 26 grams
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