DRAVITE
Specimen dra-1
$ 105.00Dims: 2.1" x 2.0" x 1.8"(5.3 x 5.1 x 4.6 cm)
Wt: 7.25 oz.(205.5 g)
Yinnietharra, western Australia
A very impressive piece, this specimen consists of a single crystal of Dravite, a brown variety of tourmaline. Though it shows noticeable damage, it has excellent hexagonal prismatic crystal form, with six thin secondary faces that truncate the prism angles beween each of the main faces. It is double-terminated, and though one of them is quite rough and slightly malformed, both show definite shallow trigonal pyramids. The color is a dark brown, of course, and the crystal has a vitreous luster and is translucent around its edges, and transparent enough to see light reflecting off of internal fractures up to 2 or 3 mm below the surface. These internal fractures pervade the crystal's entire area, and there are a few spots on the surface which show where muscovite has grown into the crystal, disrupting its form where it rests. The few spots of obvious damage are likely due to the crystal's separation from its host. I really think that this specimen is superb because of its form, size, and double-termiantion.