Detailed Description

The lustre on this crystal is bright everywhere, including the terminations – it is glassy.  Nice parallel growth – interesting the way the smaller crystal converges a bit towards the larger one. The specimen proportions are better represented in the first photograph – in the second one, in order to show the terminations, it is turned somewhat toward the camera, resulting in a perspective that shortens its length. Beautiful dravite miniature.

About These Dravite Tourmalines

These dravite tourmalines from Serra Branca, Brazil, are sharp crystals!

All of the crystals are doubly-terminated. The prism faces have a bright lustre, like black opaque glass. Under bright lights (such as the photography lighting), a few subsurface glints of internal brown are visible in some, but under normal lighting, to the eye the crystals look essentially black and opaque. The termination faces vary, with many showing a slightly silky lustre and delicate texture. Most of these are crisp, simple crystals (they really look like idealized crystal models!) and some have a bit more complexity to them. None of these crystals are perfect all-around – they have a little edge wear or minor nicking in some place or another – however, these are high quality specimens and they are the best of the lot.

These specimens were collected in the 1990s and they were squirrelled away in Brazil. Frank Melanson had analysis done to confirm that they should be labeled dravite.