Description
This beautiful tourmaline is a unique olive-green color. The gem rough this was cut from was sourced from the famous Himalaya Mine in Mesa Grande, California. The Himalaya is famed for its great variety of tourmalines, including spectacular green and red bicolored gems. However, they are becoming more difficult to find as the mine has been closed from active mining for several decades, with just occasional small-scale hand mining occurring. This gem was cut from a small parcel of rough I acquired from one the miners who is part of this recent work; it was part of his “miners cut” of the finds.
This tourmaline is extremely clean for a California tourmaline. With the exception of a tiny inclusion tucked off on one side of the pavilion it is flawless; that inclusion is only visible with a 10x loupe. I faceted it in my custom “Helena” brilliant oval design; the result is a richly colored and beautifully brilliant gemstone. The gem weighs 3.25 carats and measures 9.9 x 8.3 x 7.7 mm.
