A cute, complex single crystal of tourmaline of 18 grams, complete all around. It is formed of several parallel crystals conjoined together and sharing a termination, which is a bit unusual....These were found in the wet rainy season of 2010, in a curious manner. Dr. Federico Pezzotta of the Milan Museum spends much time at the nearby demantoid garnet locality as a consultant, teaching mining technique and also buying the specimens from the locals whom he has helped to teach how to mine. He had a small home built uphill and in-tide from the flooded mangrove swamps of the demantoid locality. While digging a deep hole for the outside toilet, the workers ran into a pegmatite vein. It was deeply altered and kaolinized , meaning most of the original pegmatite pocket matrix had transformed to a soft mushy clay between the surrounding rocks. Almost immediately, they hit one collapsed pocket, which produced the crystals you see here. Hence the name, "Toilet Pocket." After the pegmatite vein was mined out, the toilet was installed as originally planned. Dr. Pezzotta's February 6, 2011 talk on exploring for minerals in Madagascar features a brief mention of this surprising find, and can be found on DVD here: http://shop.bluecapproductions.com/product.sc?productId=76&categoryId=2

A fine, symmetric tourmaline of 30 grams, complete all around....These were found in the wet rainy season of 2010, in a curious manner. Dr. Federico Pezzotta of the Milan Museum spends much time at the nearby demantoid garnet locality as a consultant, teaching mining technique and also buying the specimens from the locals whom he has helped to teach how to mine. He had a small home built uphill and in-tide from the flooded mangrove swamps of the demantoid locality. While digging a deep hole for the outside toilet, the workers ran into a pegmatite vein. It was deeply altered and kaolinized , meaning most of the original pegmatite pocket matrix had transformed to a soft mushy clay between the surrounding rocks. Almost immediately, they hit one collapsed pocket, which produced the crystals you see here. Hence the name, "Toilet Pocket." After the pegmatite vein was mined out, the toilet was installed as originally planned. Dr. Pezzotta's February 6, 2011 talk on exploring for minerals in Madagascar features a brief mention of this surprising find, and can be found on DVD here: http://shop.bluecapproductions.com/product.sc?productId=76&categoryId=2

A fine, symmetric tourmaline of 23 grams, complete all around....These were found in the wet rainy season of 2010, in a curious manner. Dr. Federico Pezzotta of the Milan Museum spends much time at the nearby demantoid garnet locality as a consultant, teaching mining technique and also buying the specimens from the locals whom he has helped to teach how to mine. He had a small home built uphill and in-tide from the flooded mangrove swamps of the demantoid locality. While digging a deep hole for the outside toilet, the workers ran into a pegmatite vein. It was deeply altered and kaolinized , meaning most of the original pegmatite pocket matrix had transformed to a soft mushy clay between the surrounding rocks. Almost immediately, they hit one collapsed pocket, which produced the crystals you see here. Hence the name, "Toilet Pocket." After the pegmatite vein was mined out, the toilet was installed as originally planned. Dr. Pezzotta's February 6, 2011 talk on exploring for minerals in Madagascar features a brief mention of this surprising find, and can be found on DVD here: http://shop.bluecapproductions.com/product.sc?productId=76&categoryId=2

A sharp, very beautiful example of the rare habit found in a single pocket here around 2005. These had been hoarded and slowly released to the market, but that stash is done now. Few remain to be had; and for the size range , this is an excellent miniature with top quality. The color is , as it looks, YELLOW on the termination (atop a pinkish-red body). The termination is ultra-glassy, about the glassiest you can ever see in a tourmaline! These things look Afghani in form and termination, in fact...rarely would you see such from Brazil. But the color is unique, not found anywhere else quite like this. And in combination with the crazy lustre and sharp terminations, these will be remembered as one of the best tourmaline finds of the decade, I am sure.

I had the chance to cherrypick pieces from a small pocket of this new, pink, glassy tourmaline from a find in the fall of 2009. This is one of the largest good crystals I saw, and is 159 grams. No repairs! It is transparent in its upper half and translucent below. It is very statuesque, and complete all around except for 2 small sidecars that have slightly chipped terminations. The main, stairstep terminations are all pristine. It is hard to convey in photos , but the color here really is quite different than normal for other Pakistani and Afghani locales. It is a combination of color and lustre, more like Nepalese material. This is clearly from a "new " locality and visually, in person, this is more evident - we do not often see large, somewhat different tourmalines, from new locales such as this! Comes with custom lucite base for display

I had the chance to cherrypick pieces from a small pocket of this new, pink, glassy tourmaline from a find in the fall of 2009. This is one of the largest good crystals I saw, and is 168 grams. No repairs! This specimen is very glassy and transparent throughout 75% of its height, translucent through the rest. It is complete all around except for 1 small sidecar crystal that has a chipped termination (and is trivial in context). The termination is pristine. It is hard to convey in photos , but the color here really is quite different than normal for other Pakistani and Afghani locales. It is a combination of color and lustre, more like Nepalese material. This is clearly from a "new " locality and visually, in person, this is more evident - we do not often see large, somewhat different tourmalines, from new locales such as this! Comes with custom lucite base for display

An imposing, intensely red crystal of the variety once called "Siberite" by the European collecting nobility who sought after these on their Grand Tours through Russia in the 1800s. At 174 grams, this is a robust, very 3-dimensional, small-cab sized crystal. It is complete all around, 360 degrees. The side faces show a nice complexity, rather than the typical smooth, streamlined singles we are used to seeing. And lastly, the termination is the more uncommon prismatic (pointy) variety, rather than the more typical flat terminations. Joe Budd photos

IF the history had been lost here, this would be assumed (fairly safely) to be a remarkably colored Afghani tourmaline of moderate lustre and typical color for the rare blue pockets encountered there over the years. They are not common, but you see them time to time. HOWEVER, we know that this intense blue crystal was mined prior to 1960 because it is illustrated in a black-and-white group photo on page 171 of John Sinkankas seminal book, Gemstones of North America (published 1959). We think he self-collected it. It was in his personal collection until his death (in 2002), when it was sold to a local San Diego collector with whom it remained until I bought it recently (full history will be disclosed to the buyer). Aside from the unbroken chain of ownership, it is shown in one of John's most important mineral books and the shape of the termination is clearly distinguishable. John's typically styled catalogue number "TO85" is still glued to the bottom. The specimen masses 350 grams, and is complete all around except for some minor contact at the base and small tip damages to the tiny sidecar crystals which poke out here and there. The color is impressive for San Diego! The photo sequence shown here illustrates the piece in normal overhead and frontal light; with some backlighting from a few inches behind and above; and lastly with a torch sitting nearly atop the crystal and shining straight down for maximum lumination. The crystal is, truly, a gorgeous and highly unusual San Diego specimen!. Joe Budd photos

The Cryo Genie produced only a few magnificent pockets in its short and erratic lifetime as a specimen mine in the 1990s, but this was always one of the more celebrated pieces, for sheer impact and color. It went into the noted collection of the late Al Ordway, who specialized in unusual California localities. This piece is huge and dramatic, and has NEON PINK color, not anything normal in a shade of pink or red hue for San Diego or any other mine. this is quite literally the hottest pink tourmaline I have seen in this size, from San Diego. Aside from its specimen value, it is worth a fortune for carving value to the people who make carved buddhas and dolphins out of tourmaline...what a tragedy that would be, though! It is a real honor to have another great Cryo-Genie specimen of this magnitude to offer on the site. Very, very few tourmalines of this size and importance came out of the mine. This weighs several pounds, by the way; and I feel that it would be carved and sold already if it was from a more famous locale than this remote little mine in San Diego. Joe Budd Photos.