Tourmaline, Albite, Microcline and Smoky Quartz

Item Description

This large display specimen is a full pegmatite full of species, all on one piece! Three tourmalines to 9 cm (they go all the way through to the bottom) pierce the "smokestacks" of rounded, sparkling albite, and pop out the tops. Unusually, the clusters of albite are accented by really sharp feldspar crystals which also peek out of the waves of curving growth, really dramatically. It is a large, beautiful, sparking, 360-degree all around specimen for display, and as such was perfect for a museum exhibit on the origins of pegmatites, as it shows the tourmalines surrounded by the other associated minerals and you can actually see how they would have formed, one upon another as the pegmatite itself cooled and things crystallized out of solution. The piece has no damage nor repairs. It was donated to the museum in the past by the Meieran family, and comes with a museum label noting the donation and an exhibition label as well. As an extra bonus, simply out of intellectual interest since this is essentially a demonstration piece about how these species grow in such association, there is also a green fluorite present, lurking and embedded under the bottom. A classic combo, in large size, and a showy specimen overall. Ex Meieran collection to the Rice Museum.