Elbaite

Unknown Owner

An absolutely choice miniature specimen of gemmy Elbaite from the Eastern USA. The Gillette quarry, Haddam Neck, Haddam, Middlesex County, Connecticut, USA was found to contain gem quality Elbaite in 1895, and was worked intermittently as a quarry and gem producer until 1944. When it was discovered, it was the only gem-bearing pegmatite deposit outside of Maine in Eastern USA. In this specimen two gemmy prismatic crystals have developed almost in parallel - one narrow, the other stocky. Both display a transition, or zonation, from a darker, brownish body to a pink cap, but this colour contrast is accentuated when back lit. Lighting from behind reveals a beautiful bright yellow-green body colour. The crystals both reach over 4 cm in length, but this is more unusual in being stocky, rather than a 'pencil' Elbaite which are more commonly seen from this historic locality. A really lovely, and very rare high quality Elbaite from the Eastern USA.