Tourmaline var. Rubellite

A striking dark plum and cherry-pink pair of off-matrix Tourmaline crystals from the Otjua Mine on Otjua Farm 37, Erongo Region, Namibia.  The larger crystal measures 12.1 cm long and the attached smaller crystal, 7.6 cm. Each crystal is opaque, save for three bands in the smaller crystal that are translucent. Both crystals are double terminated, both having slightly raised three-sided pyramidal terminations at one end and a flat pinacoid at the opposite end. The pyramidal termination of the large crystal is partly modified due to the proximity of a now disappeared tourmaline crystal. The terminations and prism faces have a silky-satin lustre; the prism faces are moderately striated and both crystals are a mottled mix of various shades of plum and light cherry-red. Both crystals have a prism face partly coated in a mat of small, lighter pink, more gemmy Tourmaline crystals. A showy Tourmaline from Otjua mine in Namibia.