This cuprian has a beautiful Welches grape color hue with medium tone and excellent clarity as pictured. You can see needles and platelets in some of the pictures.
Cuprian Tourmaline specific to Mozambique, have special characteristics distinct to their chemical properties, containing Manganese and Copper, resulting in very unique and beautiful candy like colors referred to as Cuprian Elbaite.
Purple cuprian elbaite is especially prized when it is unheated, as heat treatment is common in the trade to CONVERT PURPLE to the “WINDEX BLUE” color. Unheated purple stones, such as those from Mozambique, are rare and highly collectible.
Purple cuprian elbaite tourmaline, a rare variety of copper-bearing elbaite often contains native copper inclusions that are both characteristic and visually striking. In the most famous Brazilian Paraíba specimens, native copper appears as strongly dendritic platelets (about 100 µm long, 1 µm thick) oriented parallel to the crystal’s c-axis in a trigonal arrangement.
In addition to native copper, tenorite (CuO) inclusions are also found in some Paraíba cuprian elbaite. Tenorite occurs as platy grains (20–30 µm) and is less abundant than native copper. The MnO content (manganese) is significant for producing violet and purple tones in some specimens, and the interplay between Cu²⁺ and Mn²⁺/Mn³⁺ ions contribute to the blue-violet to blue-green hues.
These copper bearing tourmalines are sometimes referred to as Paraiba Tourmaline, that is if they meet the required standard set by distinguished laboratories around the world.