Elbaite

$3,500.00

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Known as 'Mushroom' tourmaline, this highly distinctive variety of cerise-pink Elbaite (the variety known as Rubellite) is seemingly unique to one small area in Myanmar (formerly Burma) around the township of Momeik. Initially discovered in 1993, most specimens appear to reached mineral shows in around 2000 and became instant classics for obvious reasons, but with vague provenancing. It is now known that these unusual crystals came from the Palelni mine at Momeik. Usually, the 'mushroom' is quite small, in the 3 to 4 cm height range, but on rare occasions they were much larger and these, like this fine specimen, exhibit a central 'stem' of prismatic black Schorl tourmaline around which the cerise Elbaite overgrows as a broadly three-sided dome tapering back down to the Schorl. At 7 cm wide and 5.6 cm tall this is an impressive 'mushroom' and although it does has a few minor natural imperfections where other mineral inclusions have affected its growth development, it remains a highly significant display-sized specimen from this famous tourmaline find. It has a really rich colour and very fine surface texture too.