Liddicoatite Tourmaline Slice. Anjanabonoina pegmatites, Ambohimanambola, Betafo District, Vakinankaratra, Madagascar. 15.1 ...

Description

Liddicoatite Tourmaline Slice
Anjanabonoina pegmatites, Ambohimanambola, Betafo District, Vakinankaratra, Madagascar
15.1 x 13.0 x 0.5 cm (5.95 x 5.11 x 0.19 in)

Slicing Liddicoatite specimens are a great way to present an otherwise-unseen view of a crystal, revealing a cross-sectional structure that often displays a range of colors and transparencies. This specimen has an outer zone of black, followed by a thin olive-green layer, then a brilliant hot-pink that contrasts beautifully against the other darker colors. The octahedral core zone of the slice is alluringly dark, with diffused edges, giving this zone a smoky, ghostly appearance. Interestingly, the darkest zones in this slice, despite the relative thinness of the specimen, do not give up any color even with backlighting: normally, this would be a detrimental trait if the entire slice was like this, but in the case of this specimen, the opaque black next to the completely transparent pink makes for an excellent contrast in both color and clarity, and adds to the visual texture of the specimen. The overall slice is 5 millimeters thick, and reaches a rather large 13 centimeters across. Labeled as Tourmaline, this specimen is most likely an example of Liddicoatite (an individual species within the Tourmaline group, not a varietal name, as it is often mistaken as), as inferred from the color and locality. There is a small section towards the edge of the specimen that has some restoration.

From The Edgehill Collection.

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