gemstone help

Hello guys
i was wondering if i could get some help
ok, so heres my problem
last week i went to a rock and mineral show and bought this. It was marked off as blue tourmaline from pakistan, but im quite suspicious about it, personally i believe it is an aquamarine...what are your thoughts about it
any help would be appreciated
thankyou

It does look like aquamarine, but could you do a couple photo's of the ends to show the shape please?

looks like a section of aquamarine crystal markings and inclusions are clearly visible so i would say definitely aquamarine
wolf

I think it is tourmaline. Look at the ends of the crystal in the first photo. They apparently have a triangular cross section.

From the pics above, it could be one of several things and requires testing with standard tools to sort out which. Crystal form alone won't settle it even were if hexagonal in cross section (I'll guess it's not). Blue Tourmaline is not likely runner in any event.

I also think it is tourmaline. Pakistani aquamarine usually have well defined prism faces, even ones medium / low quality.
But I think the origin could be wrong, to me, it looks as Paprok or Lagham (Afghanistan) "paraiba" tourmaline.

Josele



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/30/2012 09:50PM by Jose Zendrera.

Another vote for tourmaline, based on the minimal info provided. I agree with Donald's and Hose's observations. A photo of the end as Wayne suggested showing the cross section would be helpful.

regards,
stephanie :))

these are the 2 end bits of the crystal
thank you guys so much for all your help

Adrian

The end views definitaly shows it's beryl

Wayne

I agree, the end-on views definitely support its being beryl.

Thank you for the new photos, and yes, this shows to be beryl - aquamarine.

regards,
stephanie

Are we sure? It's an elongated hexagonal prism and there's some blue colouration. Aquamarine might be likely but, given the indistinct terminations and without testing there are other possibilities. Apatite? Check those ends again... indistinct cleavage? Even Tourmaline can show a hexagonal cross-section sometimes and an indistinct A/B axis cleavage. Testing of hardness, transmitted light spectrum and SG might support a definite opinion. Just my bit of 'quantitative easing'....