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GeneralBlue Cap tri color elbaite Sapo Brazil

4th May 2012 23:15 UTCNoah Drew

> Hi,

> A few years ago i received this as a thank you, from someone whom i helped out over a weekend.... as I am only an appreciator of their beauty and not a collector of any kind, i thought it looked good in my favorite planter. It stayed there forgotten for years, totally buried in the dirt. I recently re-potted the plant and there it was.... I remembered putting it there with fondness. Anyway, it has since captivated me; I thought it was jut a piece of watermelon tourmaline, I remembered the person who gave it to me, said he had gotten back from a trip to Brazil, which i believed, because he had cases full of beautiful Crystals.

> So i started searching the net, and it turns out to be a tri-colored blue cap tourmaline from the Sapo mine. I had no idea, that this guy(and i feel terrible, because i cant even remember his name), would give me such a rare crystal. it is 25mm X 14mm and weighs 14.4 grams, or 72 ct. This is not a website to advertise you goods for sale unless you would like to pay for the privilege like the other advertisers on the site. You can make a posting in our Money Grubbers forum and ask for an opinion of its value if you wish. Specimen dealers usually don't weigh or describe their specimens in grams or carats unless they are of gem quality. Your specimen is not of gem quality. -Rock Currier-moderator

> Ive attatched a few photos of decent quality.

5th May 2012 11:03 UTCRock Currier Expert

Noha,

I know you will think the following comment is rude, but your crystal is not a "rare crystal". Spend a little time looking at images of tourmalines in our gallery and you may or may not come to agree with that assessment. Here is a link to page one of more than 300 pages of tourmaline specimens.

http://www.mindat.org/gallery.php?cform_is_valid=1&min=4003&cf_pager_page=1

5th May 2012 14:01 UTCNoah Drew

No, i dont think its rude at all... there are millions of tourmalines out there, but, these blue caps, from brazil, are pretty rare considering that there was only one pocket, from 97' , and no others have been found...

8th May 2012 20:00 UTCMatt Ciranni

rare or not, it is a very nice piece. And although I am neither a gemmologist nor am I making an offer, I should mention have seen specimens like yours, of similar size, going for upwards of $125-150. Multicolored tourmaline seems to be one of those minerals which have skyrocketed in value over the last decade or two, as my recent experience in trying to purchase such a crystal have attested.

1st Aug 2012 04:04 UTCSteve Hardinger 🌟 Expert

Blue caps are not at all rare. Numerous mines in Brazil as well as southern California produce them.

1st Aug 2012 04:08 UTCJim Bean 🌟

Blue caps like the ones found in the '97 find at the Sapo have not been found anywhere else before or since, to my knowledge.

1st Aug 2012 05:57 UTCSteve Hardinger 🌟 Expert

I've collected (in the Pala District) a few blue caps that are rather similar.

2nd Aug 2012 04:02 UTCJim Bean 🌟

Steve,

I'd love to see a few pictures of those, or a link if you have them in a gallery here on Mindat.

Thanks in advance,

Jim

2nd Aug 2012 05:49 UTCSteve Hardinger 🌟 Expert

And I'd love to have the time to photograph them. :)

2nd Aug 2012 12:51 UTCKelly Nash 🌟 Expert

I think the Sapo mine blue caps are fairly unique in the almost equal development of red, yellowish and blue, with a thick deep blue cap at the end. The vast majority of Pala District blue caps I've seen have a fairly thin blue cap at the termination grading downwards to a less saturated zone, but of course there are exceptions to the rules and anything's possible. Like to see some more examples, because the pictures in Mindat that I've looked at look like what I describe... I recently let go of the one Sapo Mine crystal I had, that was almost identical to Noah's, for $300, and I've been thinking I maybe should have hung onto it.

2nd Aug 2012 13:32 UTCWayne Corwin

Mindat's Blue Cap Tourmalines List

Wayne

15th Oct 2012 20:33 UTCCory David

if youre ever trying to get rid of that sapo let me know! haha very nice looking specimen.

11th Feb 2013 02:13 UTCShaun

Noah is the crystal for sale? I would like to make an offer.

17th Nov 2013 03:21 UTCryan bentler

Dude sapo tourmaline are pretty rare and will never be mined again. Plus your comment was rude considering your wrong.

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