Description

Detailed Description

Great colour-zoned, doubly terminated elbaite tourmaline crystals is associated with contrasting white albite and microcline. The tourmaline crystals each include zones of delicate pale pink at both terminations – very prominent at the one termination of each. Some of the faces at the steeper terminations of these hemimorphic crystals are quite glassy, while the pinacoid-dominant terminations at the opposite ends have a frosty appearance. In excellent condition – minor chips can be found in a couple of places, not distracting.

A beautiful specimen of multi-coloured tourmaline crystals.

About These Stak Nala Tourmalines

Since the 1980s, elbaite toumaline crystals from the pegmatites at Stak Nala have been known worldwide. Particularly distinctive and prized when associated with albite crystals, these tourmalines are usually colour-zoned, with dark green to black-appearing centre sections, with zones of green, pink, blue or colourless zones  at the terminations – often, a closer inspection with strong light or a strong reflective background are needed to show these zones. The doubly-terminated crystals from Stak Nala are super examples of hemimorphism (the crystal forms present at one termination are different from those at the other termination). I was fortunate to acquire these from a member of the family that mines them.