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Gerhard Brandstetter
Joined: 01 Apr 2013
Posts: 96
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Posted: Oct 20, 2020 14:53 Post subject: Re: Favourite Tourmalines? |
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Elbaite from Morocco is relatively rare. In 2017 i acquired this crystal group from a Moroccan dealer who told me about the locality. I was skeptical - during this time the few specimens on the market were labeled only as "Ouarzazate Region" To my surprise I found the same locality in Jordi's new update. Anyway - I love it very much!
Mineral: | Elbaite |
Locality: | Beni Bouzra (Bni Bouzra), Chefchaouen Province, Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima Region, Morocco | |
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Dimensions: | 22 x 15 mm |
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7709 Time(s) |
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Catahoula
Joined: 13 Mar 2019
Posts: 28
Location: California, USA
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Posted: Oct 20, 2020 20:48 Post subject: Re: Favourite Tourmalines? |
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Although it is not museum quality as many here are, this is very special to me because my son and I collected it in Riverside County, CA when he was 14. This is a 2.2 lb bi-color. Although dark, the color banding continues up into deep reds and greens. The entire top 2" are deep green. There were 6 lbs of rubellite, verdelite and assorted tourmalines, and over 20 lbs of smoky quartz in the pocket. A great first gem find for us both. Six years later, this is still a passion we share. Blessed to have a common obsession with my son.
Mineral: | Tourmaline (Group) |
Locality: | Riverside County, California, USA | |
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7617 Time(s) |
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Jesse Fisher
Joined: 18 Mar 2009
Posts: 629
Location: San Francisco
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Posted: Jul 06, 2021 10:13 Post subject: Re: Favourite Tourmalines? |
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In the mid 1980s, when I was first getting serious about mineral collecting, specimens from the pegmatites of Northern Pakistan, and to a lesser degree the neighboring provinces of Afghanistan were beginning to show up in the mineral marketplace here in Northern California. I am sure this was due to the fact that there was a large community of expat Afghanis who had fled the country after the Soviet invasion only a few years prior.
One of the things I remember was seeing tables covered with elbaite and cleavelandite specimens such as this one. Most were in serious need of cleaning, which was rather time-consuming as one usually needed to remove clay/cookieite coatings without damaging the underlying tourmalines and feldspars. This was a learning process and wasn't always successful. At least the specimens were inexpensive at that time!
I've always had a fondness for the location, and recently found this one from the Rock Currier collection. A very good example of the hemimorphism of the tourmaline group.
Mineral: | Elbaite and Albite |
Locality: | Stak Nala, Haramosh Mountains, Skardu District, Gilgit-Baltistan (Northern Areas), Pakistan | |
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Dimensions: | 6x3x3 cm |
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Bicolor hemimorphic elbaite partially enclosed in cleavelandite |
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5860 Time(s) |
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Eck Noch
Joined: 09 Jan 2021
Posts: 28
Location: California
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Posted: Jul 06, 2021 11:11 Post subject: Re: Favourite Tourmalines? |
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I realize that it’s ‘just’ Schorl but it’s self collected and some of most northern picket Schorl from California that I know of. Pulled from our mine in El Dorado County.
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Size information corrected to 14 cm (Tobi)
Mineral: | Schorl |
Locality: | El Dorado County, California, USA | |
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Dimensions: | 14 cm |
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5844 Time(s) |
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Philippe Durand
Joined: 10 May 2016
Posts: 628
Location: Normandie
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Carles Millan
Site Admin
Joined: 05 May 2007
Posts: 1474
Location: Catalonia
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Posted: Jul 06, 2021 14:44 Post subject: Re: Favourite Tourmalines? |
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Tourmaline group, albite
I own about thirty tourmalines but am not sure which is my favorite. Maybe this one, I think it has something special. Hope you'll like it.
More details about such specimen by clicking here.
Photos copyright © Carles Millan. Reproduction allowed as long as the author's name is cited and the image not modified (if it is not too much to ask...). Creative Commons Attribution Licence - Some Rights Reserved.
Mineral: | Tourmaline group, albite |
Locality: | Stak Nala, Haramosh Mountains, Skardu District, Gilgit-Baltistan (Northern Areas), Pakistan | |
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Dimensions: | 102 mm x 71 mm |
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5785 Time(s) |
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Mineral: | Tourmaline group, albite |
Locality: | Stak Nala, Haramosh Mountains, Skardu District, Gilgit-Baltistan (Northern Areas), Pakistan | |
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Dimensions: | 102 mm x 71 mm |
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5790 Time(s) |
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Mineral: | Tourmaline group, albite |
Locality: | Stak Nala, Haramosh Mountains, Skardu District, Gilgit-Baltistan (Northern Areas), Pakistan | |
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Dimensions: | 102 mm x 71 mm |
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5782 Time(s) |
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Mineral: | Tourmaline group, albite |
Locality: | Stak Nala, Haramosh Mountains, Skardu District, Gilgit-Baltistan (Northern Areas), Pakistan | |
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Dimensions: | 102 mm x 71 mm |
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5777 Time(s) |
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Tobi
Site Admin
Joined: 07 Apr 2009
Posts: 4112
Location: Germany
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Posted: Jul 07, 2021 04:45 Post subject: Re: Favourite Tourmalines? |
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Really nice contributions to this topic!
Gerhard, I also like the new finds from Morocco, they have such a great colour! I don't own one, I hope one day to find a nice one, congratulations on that beauty :-)
Catahoula, no matter if this may not be the usual "museum quality" - it is an amazing find and I really envy you for digging such a treasure with your son! Germany is a country with a lot of great minerals, but large bi-colour tourmalines are not among them ;-)
Eck, also a wonderful find, congratulations! You wrote 14mm for the size, I guess you meant 14 cm and I corrected it (but maybe 14 mm was correct and you just have very tiny hands) ;-)
Jesse & Carles, awesome Stak Nala pieces, so beautiful! And Carles, I think I know most of your tourmalines and this one is worth being a favourite. You're right, it has something special. There are many elbaite specimens from Stak Nala on the market, but I haven't seen one with so many perfect crystals - this is an outstanding beauty!
... And finally my new favourite tourmaline from my own collection, it's the latest addition and I simply love this bi-bolour crystal from Brazil:
Mineral: | Elbaite |
Locality: | Barra de Salinas, Coronel Murta, Jequitinhonha, Minas Gerais, Brazil | |
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Dimensions: | Crystal height 4 cm |
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Photo © Anton Watzl Minerals |
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5718 Time(s) |
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Carles Millan
Site Admin
Joined: 05 May 2007
Posts: 1474
Location: Catalonia
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Posted: Jul 07, 2021 05:20 Post subject: Re: Favourite Tourmalines? |
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Hi Tobi
Many thanks for your comments.
Your new tourmaline is not only nice because of the color combination, the green being like that of an emerald, it also shows a perfect termination with primary and secondary faces that give the specimen a special look.
Congratulations!
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Tobi
Site Admin
Joined: 07 Apr 2009
Posts: 4112
Location: Germany
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Posted: Aug 31, 2021 04:07 Post subject: Re: Favourite Tourmalines? |
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Unfortunately the next one is not part of my personal collection ;-)
This incredible thing was on display some years ago in the Marburg Museum:
Mineral: | Elbaite |
Locality: | Jos Plateau, Ropp District, Plateau State, Nigeria | |
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Dimensions: | Height 20-25 cm |
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The strong light from the backside demonstrated the surreal colour zones of this enormous tourmaline crystal |
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5178 Time(s) |
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