Gemmy Rubellite Tourmaline (rare - old 1800's era XL) Robertson Coll.

Item Description

Old-time, beautiful and RARE rubellite tourmaline from the Urals. This rich cranberrry-red, gemmy/translucent, well-striated glassy thumbnail has a striking modified pinacoidal termination with silky luster faces. Complete all-around and nearly pristine, with only a trivial bit of termination edge wear, which has little impact to the high quality of this super old-timer. Ex Kay Robertson Collection # 4144 and acquired at the Krantz shop during a European trip in 1964. It comes with a century-old Krantz label certainly dating to Imperial Russia era. Kay is a prominent California collector, who specialized in European classics (see the article in the March-April, 2007 Mineralogical Record and the 50+ page article in the German Magazine "Mineralien Welt" November-December 2017). If this beauty is from the Mor's Pit, Shaitanka District, it is an exceptional SUPER RARE rubellite. 8.89 carats mass with the specimen number on the bottom.