V21-1090
Elbaite Tourmaline (doubly-terminated floater)
Tourmaline King Mine, Pala, San Diego Co., California, USA
Miniature, 4.9 x 1.7 x 1.6 cm
Ex. William (Bill) Larson
$3,000.00 Payment Plan Available
Order Now

This is a rare, old and unusual doubly-terminated watermelon Tourmaline from the historic Tourmaline King Mine! This is from early production pre-WWI as these watermelon Tourmalines were found in the early 1900s and not since. These have a totally different character compared to Tourmalines from more recent production in the last half of the 20th Century. The Elbaite is very gemmy with great luster and features a dark, pastel pink core with a medium pastel green outer zone and termination. The green cap on this piece is 1 cm thick. The core dominates the interior of the crystal so the body of it comes off as largely pink with a distinctive green cap. There is a perceptible sidecar Tourmaline in almost parallel growth that is the same medium pastel green. The faces are sharp and lightly striated and the crystal is terminated by a satin lustered flat pinacoid. The edges are in great condition with only very minor microchipping. This piece originates from the Bill Larson collection and has an old Mitch Gunnell label too! 27.8 grams. This was in the personal collection of Bill Larson, recent owner of the Himalaya Mine, for decades until sold to us. It is a fantastic single gem crystal with unusual style, that most people would admittedly think was from Brazil... but it is from San Diego!

Video on Instagram