BUENA VISTA GEM WORKS ~ Photos of Tourmaline Crystals, Minerals, Gemstones


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Photos of Tourmaline Crystals

see also...My Blog on Collecting Tourmaline

Tourmaline Gemstones for Sale

These pictures are for the viewing enjoyment of everyone, and are presented as educational and informational. The specimens pictured are not for sale and are the property of myself, other collectors, or museums. Pictures of specimens other than what I own were for the most part taken at large gem and mineral shows.

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watermelonslice This is what a "watermelon" tourmaline looks like sliced across the crystal and polished. This superb piece came from the Otjuwa Mine in Namibia, Africa.
tqueen1 Some of the most beautiful tourmaline specimens ever discovered. From the Tourmaline Queen Mine, Pala, CA. The "Candelabra".
tqueen4 Another fine "blue cap" on quartz specimen from the find at the Tourmaline Queen in the early 70's.
tourma8 A huge green tourmaline with basal termination from one of the most prolific mines in the world, the Cruzeiro Mine, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
tourm3 A great specimen of bi-color tourmaline on quartz and pegmatite matrix from the Tourmaline Queen Mine, Pala, CA. This was used as the model for the tourmaline postage stamp a number of years back.
scepqtz A very rare combination, elbaite tourmaline on sceptered quartz. From Minas Gerais, Brazil. Spomer collection.
metour2 Some gem indicolite from the new find at the Berry Mine, Maine. Photo courtesy of Stephen Welch, as are all of the following pictures of Maine tourmaline, unless otherwise noted.
metourm3 More gem indicolite from the Berry Mine. This material is a brighter color.
metourm1 Some fine gem green tourmaline recently mined at the Berry.
metourm4 A close-up of one of the larger Maine tourmaline crystals.
metourm6 Some nice indicolite specimens from the Berry. Note the pedion (pointed) terminations.
metour9 What the material from the Berry Mine looks like faceted.
draviteblack Black dravite tourmaline crystal from Brumado Bahia, Brazil. This larger xl grew from multiple seed xls, each being doubly-terminated.
dravitebrown Gemmy brown dravite tourmaline from near Gouverneur, NY. This is a classic locale for this material, found in marble deposits. The crystal is approx. 2".
rubellitejonas A doubly-terminated cranberry rubellite xl from the famous Jonas Mine, Itatiaia, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Note the doubly-terminated attached quartz xl.
schorlfano The termination end of a "gem" schorl xl from the Fano Mine, Riverside Co., CA. Note the multiple xl growth and pedion termination. Most schorls are "frozen" in the pegmatite and are heavily fractured, making it difficult to obtain good specimens. This schorl actually formed in a pocket and is probably a cross between schorl and elbaite, but appears jet black.
schorlinrosequafrtz One thing you don't see often is tourmaline or beryl encased in rose quartz, even though the minerals can be quite abundant at some mines. This specimen is from the Dot Mine, Custer Co., SD.
tourmalinehiml A vivid hot pink tourmaline from the Himalaya Mine, San Diego Co, CA.
tourmalinehim2 A multicolor crystal from the Himalaya Mine. Although this xl is not super gemmy, it is exceptionally lustrous. Note the attached clevelandite and lepidolite.
tourmalinemtmica Here is an old crystal from Mt. Mica, ME, found years ago. It came with an old museum label from about 1912.
tourmalinenewry A nice example of the killer mint green and pink tourmalines found at Newry, ME by Plumbago Mining in 1972. This huge pocket produced gem tourmalines up to a foot long!
tourmalineotjuwalA nice doubly-terminated double xl of green elbaite from the Otjuwa Mine, Namibia, Africa. Considerable specimen material showed up on the market a few years ago, but has pretty much all been snatched up into private collections.
tourmalinequeen1 An example of the cool raspberry tourmalines with a blue cap that were collected at the Tourmaline Queen Mine, Pala, CA, circa 1972. This one was personally collected by famous mineral collector Dave Wilbur.
tourmalinestaknalaAn example of the fine specimens from Stock Nala, Pakistan that have been continuously on the market for 10 years or so. While not exceptionally colorful, the crystal forms are very nice, and they are usually associated with fine bladed clevelandite and other minerals.
tourmalinetriangled Bizarre triangular growths of gem elbaite from Minas Gerais, Brazil that were found in the early 90's. Instead of having bulging, striated sides like most tourmalines, these had flat stair-stepped side faces.
watermlonjonas The famous Jonas Mine in Minas Gerais, Brazil also produced a few nice gemmy watermelon elbaites in addition to the cranberry xls. These are very similar to xls from the Santa Rosa Mine.
elbaiteiris A fine polychrome (multicolor) tourmaline on matrix from the Dana locality for elbaite: Elba Island, Livorno province, Tuscany, Italy. This beautiful crystal is from the collection of an Italian collector, Sarah Sudcowsky, and the image is used by her permission. She refers to this one as "iris" elbaite because of all the colors. It measures 1.7x0.8 cm.
tourmalinere Here is another of Sarah's excellent tourmalines, also from Elba. This one she refers to as "il Re" (the King). She says it has unusual bright green color. Around the base are smaller blue-capped elbaites and morganite. The crystal measures 2.1x0.9 cm. Sarah Sudcowsky collection, Italy. Used by permission.
touirmaineregina This Elba tourmaline is known as "La Regina" (the Queen). This very gemmy crystal is 1.6 x 0.8 cm, and shows a cluster of lepidolite rosettes. Sarah Sudcowsky collection, Italy. Sarah has been collecting since childhood. Used by permission.
togem Other webpages that might be of interest:

My Blog on Collecting Tourmaline

Tourmaline Gemstones for Sale

Come back again as I plan to add more photos as time permits.

All photographs shown here are for your viewing enjoyment only. Copyrights are retained by original photographer or publisher. Please see our Copyright page for more information.

All photos, scans, gamma corrections, and color adjustments by Robert Spomer, unless otherwise noted.