Elbaite

Unknown Owner

The Pala District in San Diego County, California is world famous for its remarkable gem pegmatite minerals, especially its Tourmaline crystals. This gorgeous example is a 6.7 cm long, double terminated crystal of Elbaite with a transparent to translucent raspberry red prism body; terminated at one end lime green and peachy orange at the opposite end. The latter forms a more complex termination with bevelled edges grading to a flat pinacoid whereas the lime green termination is a simple, flat pinacoid. The green section is approximately 3 mm deep while the orange section extends to about 1.4 cm. The prism is heavily striated parallel to the c-axis and contains internal veils causing a dappled play of reds of varying intensity. A splendid Elbaite Tourmaline from the Pala pegmatites.\n