Detailed information
Historically famous for some of the most important red, Rubellite tourmaline crystals found in Brazil, the Cruzeiro mine has legendary status amongst tourmaline collectors. This 4.5 cm tall, fully terminated, matrixless, individual Elbaite crystal is, at 2 cm wide, quite stocky, and presents extremely well. It has great translucency, responding extremely well to directional lighting, revealing a pastel gemmy green phantom overgrown by a gemmy raspberry-pink zone, and a deep strawberry red termination. Its termination is a very fine, dominantly three-sided shallow pyramid, but with the start of another face on one side. There is light chipping to be seen around the edges of the termination but its rich colour takes away any attention this might have. The main prism sides are striated vertically and its base is a straight fracture. Ex Dr. Snizek Collection, this is a particularly well-coloured tourmaline, even by Brazilian standards.