Tourmaline

Unknown Owner

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Illustrated in The John Barlow Mineral Colelction, page 109. This is one of a very few extant matrix-associated crystals of this size from the now-infamous Bluecap Pocket of 1972, regarded as one of the most significant tourmaline finds in North America. It features an 8.7 x 5.5 cm crystal showing a distinct and lustrous bluecap on the classic Queen pink body, with an overhanging arrangement of matrix consisting of lepidolite and quartz. This overhang provides accent and color contrast tot eh blue termination, which is really what these peices are all about, and gives the piece a character that most bluecaps, being simply singles, lack noticeably. The overall effect is to make the blue of the bluecap look more intense and the piece look bigger than it really is. This is a historic, important specimen, NOT just another San Diego tourmaline! Note that since Barlow bought it in 1973, it had never been fully cleaned by modern methods and so it is considerably improved in sparkle and shine from what you see in the book. In person, the red color is also more intense than shown in my pictures.