Elbaite with Quartz Double Terminated

Unknown Owner

Help improve this recordNo owner is registered for this specimen yet. If it's yours or you know more about it, you can add the owner, provenance, publications and other details.

This double terminated pink Elbaite Tourmaline crystal has a surface texture like that of brushed silk and is from a recently discovered gem Tourmaline pocket found in the mining district of Coronel Murta in Minas Gerais, Brazil. This single, ex-matrix crystal measures 7.6 cm long and is terminated at one end by a trigonal pyramid with a bright glassy lustre, while the opposite termination is a simple flat pinacoid with a matt, waxy lustre. The Elbaite has developed with one flattened prism face to produce an isosceles triangular cross-section. This flattened, broader face is overgrown with translucent white Quart crystals averaging 4 to 6 mm. Most of these Quartz crystals are double terminated and are nearly all in parallel alignment, sitting at about 70 or 80 degrees to the Tourmaline's long axis. The Elbaite is mainly a cloudy-translucent sugar candy-pink, transgressing to a more gemmy translucent 2 cm zone adjacent to the pyramidal termination. The prism surface has a brushed silk texture due to the densely, very-finely striated faces. A beautiful Elbaite with Quartz.