Elbaite Tourmaline

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This miniature Elbaite tourmaline from the famous Coronel Murta pegmatites in Minas Gerais, Brazil displays the most intense raspberry-red imaginable for an Elbaite. It is the uppermost 3 cm long tip of a classically terminated pyramidal crystal displaying a colour gradation from raspberry pink upwards to raspberry red. The termination faces are exquisitely formed, supremely glassy as a trigonal pyramid, with three additional small triangular faces, and with just tiny microscopic chipping to the edges. The crystal is very glassy and reflective, but inclusion rich. The prism faces display classic vertical striations around the three curved sides. The base of the crystal, which is mounted on an acryllic base for display, is an irregular fractured surface and there is one minor area of contact damage lower on one prism face. A superbly coloured Brazilian Elbaite tourmaline.