Chinese Tourmaline Specimens
Only recently have tourmalines of any quality begun to trickle out of China. Rarely do they have any color and even rarer are mineral associations with other desirable minerals like members of the beryl family. Scoop these up if you get the opportunity because they are anything but common.
|
|
|
|||||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
OKE-127 Elbaite, Quartz, Feldspar and Mica Yunnan, Wenshan Prov., China. This is a special and rather unique piece. I only found the single specimen at the 2007 Tucson Show and what a winner it is! Measuring 8.5 x 6.5 x 5.5 it is a substantial specimen with a large, almost black, tourmaline wrapped in feldspar, quartz crystals and interesting mica plates. There are lots of tiny thinner tourmalines (to 1.5 cm) which show a nice green color. The big primary crystal is 8 cm long and 2.2 cm thick. There is a thin ding which does not distract from the specimen’s appearance and certainly does no take away from the importance of this piece. The quartz crystals are clear and well formed. The feldspars are bright white and the mica forms thick flat books which are composed of aggregates of tiny, translucent, silver white crystals. What a nice specimen this one is even though I have it poorly positioned in these photos! 800$
|
|
|
|||||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
OKE-184 Tourmaline and Feldspar Yunnan, Wenshan Prov., China. This single crystal is beautifully formed and single terminated. High luster and highly striated. The surface (approx 1/3rd ) is highly fluorescent which likely indicates some alteration. Mirror like terminations and prism. Nice! 95$
