The Tourmaline Display Mineral Collection of Pala International

The Tourmaline Display Mineral Collection
of Pala International

These crystals are mostly from the company tourmaline case of the dealership responsible for bringing the Himalaya Mine to fame, Pala International-The Collector of Fallbrook, California. This collection was assembled starting in the late 1970s under the joint guidance of Bill Larson and Ed Swoboda initially. It began as an educational collection on the variety of a natural species (there were other cases, as well as tourmaline); and as an example to stimulate new collectors by showing off what a tourmaline suite could look like in a home showcase. It has, since the early 1980s , been housed in the showroom of The Collector, the iconic store in Fallbrook, California, founded by Bill Larson and Ed Swoboda following their discovery of the Tourmaline Queen bluecap pocket in 1972. They went on to mine the Himalaya Mine, which Bill Larson continued to mine until leasing it off in 2002. Some of the choicest crystals found in their mining, in the size range kept for this collection, still remained here to this day.

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PTOURM-37 - Tourmaline - $ 6500
Himalaya Mine, Mesa Grande, San Diego County, California
small cabinet, 8.9 x 2.2 x 2.2 cm

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This crystal, which is an old piece from the earlier era of the Himalaya Mine (pre-1960), is a superb, intensely colored crystal with better color and saturation than normal. It is more red than pink, as is typical here. The zoning is sharp and the transparency is much higher than the average Himalaya Mine piece of this size. The piece has a yellowed old number label attached at the bottom, and came out of an old collection. Like others that were then kept in the company collection all these years, it is complete and unrepaired. The piece is fully terminated at both ends. 90 grams. ex. Pala Intl company collection

PTOURM-36 - Tourmaline - $ 1500
Stak Nala, Haramosh Mts., Skardu District, Baltistan, Northern Areas, Pakistan
small cabinet, 6.4 x 3.4 x 2.8 cm

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A classic combination piece from the distinct finds at Stak Nala, with multicolored, doubly-terminated tourmalines (to just under an inch long) hanging off of a doubly-terminated floater quartz. Overall, very elegant. although small in size this piece represents the finest features of the location and its notable combination pieces. ex Pala Intl. Company collection

PTOURM-35 - Tourmaline - $ 4500
Barra de Salinas, Coronel Murta, Minas Gerais, Brazil
small cabinet, 7.3 x 2.3 x 1.3 cm

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This crystal has a classic sharp pointed tip and pink-red stem, as often seen from this mine. However, it is unusually fat in the width of the green portion, and massive at 40 grams. The color and the lustre are, if anything , better in person. ex Pala Intl. Company collection

PTOURM-34 - Tourmaline - $ 1800
Cruzeiro Mine, Minas Gerais, Brazil
small cabinet, 7.3 x 0.9 x 0.9 cm

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An exceptionally lustrous, glassy, GEM CLEAN crystal of totally transparent nature. This is 12 grams. Most such crystals were sold as facet rough when they came out. ex Pala Intl. Company collection

PTOURM-31 - Tourmaline - $ 6000
Himalaya Mine, Mesa Grande, San Diego County, California
small cabinet, 8.0 x 2.2 x 1.9 cm

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This is a VERY intensely colored dark red crystal, with among the top color saturation hue you can expect from this mine. In fact, it has purplish/maroon overtones and is not the usual pink-red color by any stretch. When seen in person, the sharp color bandings you see in the photo are even more dramatic . The crystal is doubly-terminated - the unusually steep termination atop arising from a contact as it grew against another crystal in the pocket. The termination is much more lustrous than that on most Himalaya mine pieces. The piece is very transparent, such that you can read through much of the length of it - unusual in a Himalaya crystal of this size, which usually tends towards murkiness. This is just, overall, a superb Himalaya Mine piece of a color that makes it stand out from the norm, with better lustre and translucency. Collected by mine owner Bill Larson in the 1980s and long in the company collection at their shop, Pala Intl. 58 grams

PTOURM-30 - Tourmaline - $ 2800
Darra-i-Pech, Nangarhar Prov., Afghanistan
small cabinet, 5.6 x 2.4 x 1.7 cm

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This one surprised me - I was sure it was repaired and I had bought a bill of goods when I bought it, uncleaned and dirty, via a very crude and quick email photo from just after it was mined. But it is indeed real, and not repaired, and is totally mesmerizing in person. The crystal is fat, gemmy and transparent, and INTENSELY green. It is no problem at all to read right through this crystal, and that despite the rich color saturation. Although not a big piece (large mini/small cab borderline in size), it has a phenomenal display presence and is of the highest calibre gram for gram, for this typical style of Afghani tourmaline.

PTOURM-29 - Tourmaline - $ 4500
Himalaya Mine, Mesa Grande, San Diego County, California
small cabinet, 6.4 x 3.3 x 2.0 cm

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A stunning crystal for the Himalaya mine with INTENSE color and teh deepest red color I can recall seeing on a glassy termination from here. It has almost a purpley-maroon color saturation in fluorescent lighting (although these go paler in Halogen lighting). The termination is sharper than usual, and more lustrous on most faces as well (it has one matte face). The crystal is complete all around and doubly-terminated, and masses 64 grams. It has a few shallow contacts in back where it grew against cleavelandite blades, but no damage. This is a very choice crystal, which Bill Larson mined in the 1980s from his own mine and kept in this company collection ever since. The cleavelandite accents are nice, but not overly imposing. It sits upright on the flat termination, or can be mounted in a base with the pointed termination down - either way, impactful on display. This crystal is much more translucent than the average Himalaya crystal, even when only minimally backlit, and overall this is a superior example in its size class . ex Pala Intl company collection

PTOURM-28 - Tourmaline - $ 2100
Alto Ligonha, Mozambique
miniature, 5.3 x 1.3 x 1.2 cm

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A highly unusual, odltime specimen from the classic African tourmaline locale. This is just a bizarre piece, like no other I have seen from here. The crystal is totally gemmy, happy and bright inside, and with a surface on the outside that looks more like russian heliodor or brazilian beryls than like a tourmaline patterning. The color is not quite a pure red, but more a wine color, very unusual . ex Pala Intl. Company collection

PTOURM-27 - Tourmaline - $ 4800
Alto Ligonha, Mozambique
small cabinet, 5.6 x 1.8 x 1.3 cm

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This is perhaps the single most glassy and lustrous tourmaline in this update. It has a freaky surface lustre to it, combined with internal brightness and an obvious clarity and transparency. Specimens like this are few and far between. Old material, said to have been collected prior to the 1970s. The lustre, the brightness, the gemminess...all I can do is add more superlatives. It is that good, and totally distinct from tourmalines from other finds you may have. ex Pala Intl. Company collection

PTOURM-25 - Tourmaline - $ 4000
Darra-i-Pech, Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan
small cabinet, 6.0 x 3.3 x 1.4 cm

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The intense color here is pure indicolite blue, with both lustre and saturation rarely seen from tourmalines of this region or any other. Usually when we DO see this intense blue here, it is in crystals that tend to have a matte surface. This crystal is slender and so is very transparent, and just glows when backlit. Complete all around. IT IS MORE GEMMY IN PERSON!

PTOURM-24 - Tourmaline with Lepidolite - $ 2500
Himalaya Mine, Mesa Grande, San Diego County, California
small cabinet, 6.9 x 3.0 x 2.4 cm

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A beautiful, complexly zoned Himalaya Mine crystal with a particularly deeply saturated and elongated red zone for this style. Complete all around! Self collected in his mine and ex Pala Intl. Company collection

PTOURM-22 - Tourmaline - $ 2400
Barra de Salinas, Coronel Murta, Minas Gerais, Brazil
small cabinet, 6.1 x 1.6 x 1.4 cm

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A classic tourmaline with deep blue color, from this famous old locale. Complete all around!

PTOURM-21 - Tourmaline - $ 3500
Pederneira Mine, Minas Gerais, Brazil
small cabinet, 8.2 x 1.8 x 1.7 cm

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From a find in the early 2000's often referred to as the "rocket pocket", this is a totally gem crystal with instense color and the typical sharp termination this pocket was known for. It is undamaged and pristine, with just a shallow contact on one back edge but otherwise symmetrical all around. The definite blue hint to the green color in the middle is a bit unusual, and not often seen in material from this mine.

PTOURM-19 - Tourmaline - $ 4000
Jos, Nigeria
miniature, 5.0 x 1.4 x 0.9 cm (largest of 3)

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This is a set of 3 matching tourmalines from the same pocket, found in the mid 1980s, with gem clean cores and dark green caps. Classic older material from Jos, now seldom seen today. They are attached to a special group display base. ex Pala Intl. Company collection

PTOURM-18 - Tourmaline (set of 7, ex Krantz) - $ 4000
Mount Mica, Paris, Oxford Co., Maine
thumbnail, 1.9 x 1.7 x 0.9 cm (largest of 7)

ex. Dr. August Krantz

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Tourmaline (set of 7, ex Krantz) from Mount Mica, Paris, Oxford Co., Maine [db_pics/new2011/PT18a.jpg]

Tourmaline (set of 7, ex Krantz) from Mount Mica, Paris, Oxford Co., Maine [db_pics/new2011/PT18a.jpg]

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Tourmaline (set of 7, ex Krantz) from Mount Mica, Paris, Oxford Co., Maine [db_pics/new2011/PT18c.jpg]

Tourmaline (set of 7, ex Krantz) from Mount Mica, Paris, Oxford Co., Maine [db_pics/new2011/PT18c.jpg]

This set of bright gem crystals, all different, dates to the heyday here in the mid-1800s. It was reputed to be in the collection of Dr. August Krantz (1809-1872). This suite came out of a museum exchange in Europe and was at the Munich show in the 1990s. Bill Larson purchased it there from a small dealer who exchanged with the University of Bonn, where these were said to come out of the Krantz collection (though no label survives). Krantz's son in law, Theodore Hoffmann, sold Krantz's personal collection of over 14,000 mineral specimens to the Mineralogical Museum in Bonn in 1874. Mt Mica was operative from what the early 1800s til WWI, and so the time frame fits. A unique group of superb thumbnails from the heydays of this important locale. ex Pala Intl. Company collection

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Rob Lavinsky, rob@irocks.com

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