Learn about Elbaite
color range and crystal variety define a diverse group; top localities, value factors, quality assessment, and care tips for collectors.Tourmaline from Madagascar, Madagascar
Madagascar is one of the great names in tourmaline collecting, not because it produced the most tourmaline, but because it produced some of the most visually distinctive tourmaline ever cut, polished, and held to the light. The classic Malagasy material is the calcium-rich lithium tourmaline long known to collectors as liddicoatite: thick crystals and slices with triangular growth sectors, radiating three-rayed red stars, watermelon-like cores, yellow-green rims, smoky brown skins, and stacked oscillatory zones that look more architectural than accidental.Madagascar
central highlands pegmatites yield tourmaline, spodumene, beryl and rarities; prized for color zoning and cross-sections.
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