Elbaite Tourmaline

Unknown Owner

The colour of this Elbaite from Coronel Murta in northeastern Minas Gerais state is exceptional. Comprising two broadly parallel prismatic crystals, one 5.9 cm in length, the other 4.2 cm, both display wonderful zonation in colour from paler pink at their base intensifying to deep red at their terminations. The smaller of the two crystals is the most perfect, with a fantastic three-sided pyramidal termination, but it is its colour which is most striking, going from pale pink at its base, up through raspberry pink and into an intense strawberry red at its summit. The larger crystal is well-terminated too, but not in a standard sense, with a more elongated and stepped appearance. Its colour, although lovely, is not quite as intense as that witnessed in the smaller crystal. Grading from (depending on the light source) orange-pink or pale raspberry-pink at its base, upwards to deep raspberry-pink at the top. This is an absolutely top-class Brazilian tourmaline. One repair is recorded and it is mounted on a acrylic base for display.