Gem: Dravite tourmaline
Weight: 5.3 grams
Dimensions: 22 x 11.8 x 10.8 mm
Clarity: SI / I -- Very gemmy for a specimen
Origin: Thickachaur Mine, Jajarkot, Western Development Zone, Nepal
Treatments: None
Comments:
This double terminated tourmaline crystal is an excellent example of the very limited production of this color range from this particular area. Most crystals from here may or may not be gemmy, but are almost all a very dark, very closed brown to black color. Many can't even pass light through.
But there was a limited find of vibrant honey-brown, green, or yellow green crystals in the time period between 2008-2011. I purchased a couple of small wholesale lots of this material in 2012. I sliced lots of it into gemmy, colorful dravite watermelon slices. But there were many crystals I found objectively beautiful, and I didn't have the heart to slice them.
This is one of those!
The color is a greenish yellowish, kind of metallic color, due to the fact that it is green around the outsides, and at the terminations, and a light, honey brown to orangey yellow color on the inside at the core of the crystal.
I'm not entirely certain what trace elements cause the coloration, but it's a beautiful crystal with good form, and BOTH terminations intact. It will look great in any collection, or could potentially be a very carefully carried pocket rock.