Tourmaline with Stilbite (Doubly terminated)

A classic example of the famous Himalaya Tourmalines mined in the 1970s by Pala International. This piece is a robust, sharp, doubly terminated, lustrous, gemmy, multicolor prism with a partial “cap” on one end of white bladed Stilbite! Yes, that’s right, a Zeolite species in this famous granitic pegmatite locality. Only a small percentage of Himalaya Tourmalines are associated with Stilbite, and they are admired by collectors for the unusual association.

The Tourmaline crystal itself is still the star here, and it shows a wide range of colors starting with a very thin yellowish-green zone on the basal terminated, which grades into the classic Himalaya bubblegum pink and gives way to a thin “straw” colored area, and then a more notable forest green hue with a somewhat silvery color near the base of the crystal. The piece is amazingly pristine with no notable nicks that I can find anywhere. The prism has good luster as well, which is important with these crystals. The piece is completely UN-repaired, which is noteworthy for most Tourmaline crystals from the Himalaya. A beautiful, classic, multi-color example with an interesting Stilbite association from this historic U.S. locality.

Specimen# GEMXL71519