4.48 ct. Brazilian Green Tourmaline with Copper Platelets
Color: Dark Green
Clarity: Moderately Included (Copper only)
Origin: Brazil
Cut: Rectangular Step
Treatments: None
Measurements: 19 x 6.3 mm
A very interesting and rare inclusion gem - Tourmaline with platelets of native copper. This stone was part of a very limited find of this material a couple of years ago in Brazil. Previously the only documented examples of copper platelets as inclusions in Tourmaline occurred with some of initial finds of Paraiba Tourmaline in the 1980's. There is a great photo of a Paraiba with precipitated copper in Gems and Gemology, Fall 1994, pg. 180. The platelets in this gem have the same morphology and have been identified as copper.
A lovely and approachable example from this find, the stone has a deep green bodycolor which contrasts beautifully with the golden schiller effect. The cutting was planned to maximize this - the table of the stone parallels the broadest flash from the copper. An absolutely unique gem and quite rare - a cuprian stone in the purest sense.