Tourmaline with Albite and Quartz (ex Obodda Collection)

Shigar Valley, Skardu District, Baltistan, Gilgit-Baltistan (Northern Areas), Pakistan
Small Cabinet, 8.8 x 5.7 x 4.6 cm
Start Time: 04/27/2017 6:45:00 pm (CDT)
End Time: 05/04/2017 6:45:00 pm (CDT)
Auction Closed

Item Description

A beautiful group of sharp, lustrous, prismatic Tourmaline crystals measuring up to 4.1 cm long associated with snow-white lustrous Albite (var: Cleavelandite) and gemmy slightly colorless / smoky Quartz crystals. The piece comes from the private collection (not inventory) of Herb Obodda, and even though it's actually labeled as Schorl on Herb's label, it has areas of gemmy green that shine through with backlighting. Most of the prisms are in fact black opaque Schorl, but the crystals that show the pyramidal terminations display the green color as opposed to the basal terminations which are essentially pure black. A slight amount of green can be seen along the edges of the thicker crystals when backlit. The piece looks to be damage free as far as I can tell with the naked eye, and it's so showy, aesthetic and well-balanced that you can't ask for much more out of a small cabinet display specimen with great associations to boot. The piece was valued at $1800 in the inventory and worth it for the form and quality.

Did You Know We Offer Custom Bases?

Learn More