Tourmaline (unusual formation) (ex Gioia Collection)

Item Description

Most people would agree that Brazil is the most prolific Tourmaline producing country in the world, with a wide range of styles, habits and colors of crystals. This piece is certainly unusual, even for a Brazilian Tourmaline as it features an almost "jackstraw"-esque group of intergrown crystals, free of matrix. There are single prisms along with "sprays" of crystals featured on the piece, and they are growing in multiple directions. Now it should be pointed out that nearly every termination is contacted on the piece, but it's still a really interesting and eye-catching specimen in terms of the uncommon style in which the crystals have formed. The color is a golden-green hue when backlit, and there are some small columnar beige colored crystal groups of Mica (possibly Lepidolite or Muscovite) that can be seen on the piece as well. From the collection of Rolando Gioia (a contributor to new definitive book on Brazilian minerals: "Minerais e Pedras Preciosas do Brasil").