Pink tourmaline crystals on white bladed cleavelandite with mirror reflection.
Elongated pink tourmaline crystal flat on white cleavelandite with reflection.
Overhead view of a dense white cleavelandite cluster with tourmaline.
Macro photograph of a zoned pink tourmaline crystal on cleavelandite.
Detailed macro view of dense purple lepidolite masses on matrix.
Macro shot showing the interface of purple lepidolite and cleavelandite.
High magnification macro of a color zoned tourmaline crystal termination.
Close horizontal macro of a pink tourmaline prism on cleavelandite.
Detailed horizontal macro of a pink tourmaline crystal among blades.
Macro view highlighting sharp geometric edges of white bladed cleavelandite.
Tourmaline & Cleavelandite video

Tourmaline & Cleavelandite

Tourmaline – Na(Li,Al)3Al6Si6O18(BO3)3(OH)4
Elements: Sodium, Lithium, Aluminum, Silicon, Oxygen, Boron, Hydrogen
Class: Silicates – Cyclosilicates
Crystal System: Hexagonal
Hardness: 7-7.5
Quartz
Talc (1)Diamond (10)
Very hard. Scratches glass and steel.
Cleavelandite – NaAlSi3O8
Elements: Sodium, Aluminum, Silicon, Oxygen
Class: Silicates – Tectosilicate
Crystal System: Triclinic
Hardness: 6-6.5
Orthoclase
Talc (1)Diamond (10)
Scratches glass. Harder than a steel knife.
Origin: Gerais Mine – Brazil
Did you know?

For a few years, San Diego County mined pink stones mostly for one customer on the other side of the world. Between 1902 and 1910 the mines shipped some 120 tons of gem rubellite to imperial China to feed the Empress Dowager Cixi's love of the color, and when she died and the Qing dynasty fell soon after, the market collapsed and the California boom went with it.

Cleavelandite carries a quiet American first. This albite variety was named in 1823 for Parker Cleaveland, who in 1816 had written the very first mineralogy textbook by an American, and the name was coined partly because the mineralogist Brooke thought albite, Latin for white, was a poor name for a stone that is not always white.

More videos

Red hexagonal vanadinite crystal cluster displaying a clean mirror reflection.
Vanadinite
Clear apophyllite crystals with pyramidal terminations from India.
Apophyllite & Stilbite
Honey yellow prismatic celestine crystal cluster from Poland with reflection.
Celestine
Deep purple amethyst crystals on cream colored feldspar from Namibia.
Amethyst on Feldspar
Light blue cubic fluorite cluster on matrix with mirror reflection.
Fluorite
Mesolite on ApophylliteAmber