Tourmaline var. Schorl-Elbaite with Albite

Listed elsewhere for $350. Accepting offers.

This is a Tourmaline crystal in the Schorl-Elbaite spectrum from the Stak Nala valley in the Haramosh Mountains, Gilgit-Baltistan region, northern Pakistan. These Tourmalines can have incredible aesthetics and fascinating colors. They have black cores with dark green caps and specimens are doubly-terminated if not broken. Though green is the most common color found in the terminations, crystals can also be found with blue, pink, and purple caps. Also, since Tourmaline is a non-centrosymmetric crystal, each end forms a different shaped termination with different colors (sometimes different shades of the same color). Stak Nalas are completely unique in the world of Tourmaline and offer both top-quality aesthetics as well as geological and mineralogical curiosity.

This particular specimen is a cluster of three doubly-terminated crystals aesthetically perched parallel in a matrix of large Albite (sodium Feldspar) crystals which themselves are coated in a thin layer of some rough and lumpy mineral. The top surface of the largest Albite crystal I have cleaned off so that the natural white color and semi-translucence of the Albite is visible. The cores of these crystals are black even in strong backlighting, indicating an iron-rich Schorl composition while the terminations gain an eerie translucence in shades of green. The terminations are very clean and reflective. The top terminations (analogous pole) are flat and smooth while the bottom terminations (antilogous pole) barely poking through the Albite are pointy and rougher as determined by Tourmaline’s crystal structure. These “bottom”, hidden terminations are also semi-translucent and primarily colorless.

Dimensions (approx.): 2.05 x 1.40 x 1.05 in (5.2 x 3.6 x 2.7 cm)

Dimensions of largest crystal: 1.60 x 0.37 in (4.1 x 0.9 cm)

Check out my Instagram or TikTok @FantasticFeldspar for more videos and pictures! All photos/videos were taken by me with an iPhone and have not been enhanced. Macro photos/videos taken through a 14x lens.