Tourmaline "cityscape"

Unknown Owner

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The Himalaya Mine has given us some really weird tourmalines, but these are in a class of their own and immediately recognizable in any collection, if they turn up. This is a unique tourmaline from America, yes, but it is moreover unique in the larger world: one of the largest and best known examples from this pocket of San Diego tourmalines called by the locals "cityscapes" for the strange vertical patterns and etchings within, that make some of them look like they enclose towers inside. This was one pocket in the 1980s, collected by Larson. He kept this for himself, not only one of the best but also the biggest complete crystals with no damage or repairs. This large crystal retains the termination cap that usually falls off : Most of them etch in so deeply, that the caps just fall off, leaving the freestanding "towers" and creating even more of the cityscape look that is more evident in smaller specimens (making this all the more rare as a large example over 3 cm). Furthermore, this remarkable crystal is a floater, complete and doubly-terminated on both ends. Collected by, and from the important and long held personal San Diego County Collection of William "Bill" Larson, longtime owner of the Himalaya Mine, discoverer of the famous Queen Mine BlueCap pocket, and numerous other San Diego mining projects over the last 60 years and more.