Tourmaline on/in Quartz
Aricanga mine, São José da Safira,
Minas Gerais, Brazil
13.2 cm wide x 7.6 cm tall
A sharply terminated, transparent quartz crystal cluster hosts a slender prismatic tourmaline crystal displaying intense raspberry-red coloration with a thin emerald-green rim beneath a dark, nearly black termination. The quartz is exceptionally clear, revealing delicate internal growth striations, wispy veils, and faint phantom-like inclusions.
The tourmaline is embedded within the quartz, creating a dramatic contrast between the colorless crystal and the richly saturated gem tourmaline. The intersecting quartz points and the horizontal orientation of the tourmaline produce a highly aesthetic composition that is characteristic of the world's finest Brazilian pegmatite specimens.
The tourmaline "floats" across the quartz crystals, giving the specimen exceptional three-dimensional balance and display quality. This is an elegant and highly collectible association specimen, prized for the vivid color contrast, excellent crystal definition, and the unusual way the tourmaline is naturally enclosed and supported by the transparent quartz.
*tourmaline crystal has a single repair