Elbaite Tourmaline (purple cap)

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A gorgeous and intensely multicolored Elbaite crystal from Brazil. Casual inspection reveals this piece to be a deeply colored watermelon Tourmaline crystal, however, closer scrutiny reveals this gem to have an intense purple cap! It has a lovely and intense reddish rubellite core jacketed by a vivid blue-green exterior and the zoning of these colors is very obvious with only minor backlighting which reveals both vertical and horizontal zoning of the watermelon character. There is distinct internal demarcation of the colors especially with respect to the abrupt, horizontal change from red to blue-green transition 2 cm down from the termination. The lateral transition along the prism faces is not as pronounced and the thickness of the blue-green exterior zone is about 5 mm thick. The clincher here is the thin, less than 1 mm, intense prepossessing, purple cap at the termination! Very few pegmatite in the world have yielded Tourmalines with a distinctive purple cap and they are almost as rare as blue caps! This crystal is essentially pristine with sharply defined edges and crystal faces with the prism faces displaying the typical slightly rounded character and definitive striations parallel to the length of the crystal. It is terminated by a flat, nicely developed pinacoid termination on the top end and a complex termination on the other. A stunning Brazilian tourmaline! From a multigenerational family gem dealership's collection, in Brazil, this was perhaps collected decades ago although we cannot say for sure. It is certainly unique, unlike any modern find.