Editor’s Letter

Christmas came early here at Rock & Gem since we got the opportunity to premiere “e Tiara” tourmaline specimen on this month’s cover. Not only is this a stunning piece, but it’s got an interesting background I thought I’d share.

“e Tiara” was formed hundreds of millions of years ago as a oater perched like a tiara on top of a large opaque crystal, nicknamed Tarugo. “e Tiara” is described as gemmy, transparent and cranberry red. It’s one of the legendary rubellite tourmalines found in the Jonas pocket in Brazil in 1978 — touted as the most important tourmaline discovery on earth for beauty and quality. Sadly, many of the gemmy crystals were cut up and faceted, however, this piece was allowed to remain intact. It was found as you see it on the cover. It’s perhaps one of the largest intact transparent crystal clusters from that discovery.

Even more intriguing is that “e Tiara” was “lost” for 50 years as it was hidden in a secret collection in Europe and never shown or exhibited even as others were made famous. Over time, it was almost forgotten as it fell o‘ the radar. “e Tiara” and its fellow crystals were captured through a painting (pictured here) by Wendell Wilson of the “Bamburro pocket” where “e Tiara” was found. e painting, based on specimen measurements made to scale in a sketch during excavation and interviews with the original miners, is an accurate recreation of what the mine pocket looked like. It shows “e Tiara” perching on Tarugo on the middle right.

ey say what’s old is new again and that certainly •ts this specimen. “e Tiara” is back and it’s time for it to shine once again.

Happy Holidays,