National Museum of Natural Science

Elbaite is a relatively valuable and rare member of the tourmaline group. Sometimes, within a single crystal there are different colors. There may be chromatic circles from the center outward along the vertical axis or color bands along the parallel axis. Watermelon tourmaline is a zoned variety with a reddish center surrounded by a green outer zone resembling watermelon rind. In this exhibition is presented a pair of watermelon tourmaline specimens in cross-section, as well as a pair of cut and polished elbaite specimens. The cut and polished specimens are green, blue and orange. There is also a 42-centimeter, 8.2-kilogram specimen of rough elbaite with associated albite.

Elbaite