RAPAPORT...  Bonhams in New York will hold an auction on June 1, 2009, featuring 525 lots of high-quality and distinctive mineral specimens, gold nuggets, lapidary works of art, gemstones and jewelry. Tourmaline is featured in more than 50 of the lots; many shades of the gemstone will be on offer in both polished and unpolished form, as unmounted stones and in jewelry. Claudia Florian, co-consulting director of this "Natural History" auction, said,  "Interest in tourmaline among collectors has grown exponentially in the past several years. Made popular by its hardness level, it is the perfect stone for daily wear in the form of jewelry. 

"Blue tourmalines, such as those examples featured in the June auction, are extremely rare and highly sought after by the public," she said. "Tourmaline is also the national gemstone of the U.S., due to the once-abundant deposits of pink stone in San Diego County, California."

Leading the tourmaline offerings is a multicolor jewelry suite comprising 59 tiny, intricately hand-carved flowers by German lapidary master Manfred Wild, with a presale estimate of between $28,000 and $35,000. Consisting of a necklace and pair of earrings, the ensemble is composed of a variety of tourmalines from many parts of the world. Additional hand-carved tourmaline pieces created by Wild include a transparent green Brazilian box trimmed in 18-karat gold, whose presale estimate is between $15,000 and $18,000; a multicolor and sterling silver presentation box fitted with a rare Liddicoatite slice from Madagascar displaying brilliant concentric banding in red, candy pink, green and black, with a presale estimate of $12,000 to $15,000; a finely detailed, intensely pink Madagascar tourmaline carving of a mouse, with a presale estimate of $4,500 to $5,500, and an unusual bicolor pink and green tourmaline and 18-karat gold miniature sculpture of a grasshopper, whose presale estimate is between $3,500 and $4,500.

The auction will also feature a group of carvings by Gerd Dreher, including a fish created from a massive slab of Madagascar tourmaline — presale estimate, $9,000 to $12,000 — and a pair of dolphins made from nearly 6,000 carats of aquamarine — presale estimate, $25,000 to $35,000. Sylvia and Luis Quispe, trained, like Wild and Dreher, in Idar-Oberstein, Germany, have produced a hand-carved marine-life chess set made of ruby and lapis lazuli trimmed with 18-karat gold and accompanied by an illuminated rock crystal and obsidian chess board, with a presale estimate of $90,000 to $110,000.

Jewelry on offer includes a 99 carat carved black opal and diamond pendant from Lightning Ridge, Australia, dubbed "Aqua Profonda" by designer Jenni Brammall, with a presale estimate of between $50,000 and $60,000. Several spectacular pieces by jeweler Robert Wander have also been selected for the auction to illustrate the tourmaline theme. 




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