Tourmaline and Quartz with Smoky inclusions ex Meieran

Item Description

This item in our premiere auction of mineral specimens from the important gem crystals collection of Gene Meieran is a spectacular, unique tourmaline, from the famous Paprok gem deposits in Afghanistan. Each auction of material for the Meieran collection deaccessions will feature a range of minerals, of all sizes and price values, with a few flagship pieces such as this. This specimen is unique in our experience of Afghani tourmalines for the dark evergreen color combined with the robust and more typical shape. It has a high saturation that is unusual, but not too dark, and it is bright inside when lit with even a modest light aimed at the crystal in a showcase. The crystal has a fabulous, lustrous termination which is nearly pristine except for the tiniest of tiny edge wear - and that is actually proof anyways that it has no repairs or restorations, and has not been over-labbed, so to speak. The surface is subtly scalloped with shallow features, and yet totally gemmy such that you can look down into the crystal from above. The biggest (ironic) problem with the specimen is that it is complete all around and as such, it displays so well, from too many angles, and we could not decide how best to show it! That deep green crystal is so saturated with color, so different from any other Afghani Paprok specimen we have seen, that it leaps out in a case. The color is more what you would expect from Brazil, than this part of the world. The large crystal is 5.5 cm wide, 5 cm tall from the base under the wreath of white cleavelandite, and to just over 3 cm depth (being a little shallow in depth is good here, as it lets the light in so it sparkles inside). Speaking of which, that wreathing of white cleavelandite at the base of the green is itself a notable combination here, really accenting the green by contrast. Now, to the quartz: this is what we call radiation-spot smoky quartz, meaning that it was exposed to natural radiation in the ground that gave the smoky color in the quartz (as it was "cooked" in the ground over a loooong time, maybe tens of millions of years); but more than that, what we see are some interesting local zones. These are in contrast to the overall weak effects of radiation overall on the quartz crystals to make them only faintly smoky, while local spots within the quartz contain some element that reacts more strongly and produces these color spots, which are permanent and stable indicators of the environment this formed in. Rare from Afghani material, we see this more often in Himalaya Mine (San Diego) specimens. You take the interesting quartz and the interesting tourmaline color and style together, and you can see why this stayed in a famous and large collection dominated generally by larger tourmalines or singles over the years. Gene also kept what was unique, and fascinating. This is that, as well as breathtakingly beautiful on a shelf. And, lastly, the fact that it is without any repairs or restorations, nor significant damage, elevates the value and rarity all the more. It is one of my favorite tourmalines in the collection, for sheer surprise and impact value. Valued $40-50,000.