Tourmaline:
Basic facts:
Month stone: October
Origin: Afghanistan, Brazil, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Zambia & USA
Colors: Various
Family: Tourmaline
Hardness: 7 – 7.5
Refractive Index: 1.61 – 1.66
Specific Gravity: 2.82 – 3.32
Treatment: Usually not treated
Tourmaline has a colorful and romantic history and comes in an incredible array of beautiful colors. Tourmaline is found in a palette of over 100 different shades, and is one of the world's most diverse gemstones. This has resulted in the nickname "chameleon gem", which is doubly appropriate when you consider that a major source of tourmaline is Madagascar, home to more than half of the world's chameleon species.
The name tourmaline comes from the Sinhalese word tourmali (to mix), due to a historical tendency for tourmaline to be mixed and mistaken for other gemstone varieties.
Myths and legends
Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) was partly responsible for tourmaline's resurgence in Europe when tourmaline gems were sold to Dutch traders who imported them to the West in the 15th century.
The Dutch were the first to discover that this precious stone, like quartz, had a unique property, piezoelectricity. When tourmaline is heated or rubbed, an electrical charge is created, and the stone becomes a magnet that attracts other light materials.
One monarch who was particularly enchanted by tourmaline was the Empress Dowager Tz'u Hsi, the last empress of China. She loved tourmaline so much, and was so rich, that she bought almost a ton of tourmaline from San Diego, California's pegmatite district.
Tourmaline facts
Due to their crystal size, tourmalines are often cut into long rectangular shapes along the crystal axis.
Tourmaline crystals occur in granitic pegmatite veins in the large gemstone districts in eg Minas Gerais in Brazil, San Diego County in the USA, and the East African countries of Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Madagascar and Nigeria.
Tourmaline is a group of mineral species. But it is the mineral elbaite (named after the island of Elba off the nearby west coast of Italy, where it was discovered) that is responsible for almost all of tourmaline's most famous gemstone varieties.
Tourmaline very rarely has a cat's eye effect. Chatoyancy or cat's eye is a reflective effect that appears as a single bright band of light across the surface of a gemstone.
All tourmalines can display Pleochroism, which means that the stone can show color changes when viewed from different angles. However, this can vary from stone to stone. In some cases this effect is barely noticeable, while in others it is strongly evident.
Green tourmaline
Normally free of inclusions, green tourmaline offers consumers everything they want in an emerald, but with better clarity. Green Tourmaline has become popular with collectors in recent years. Chrome tourmaline is an intense green variety of tourmaline found in East Africa. Despite the name, most chrome tourmalines are actually colored by vanadium.
Indicolite tourmaline
Ranging in color from light to deep blue, indicolite tourmaline is rare and high-quality specimens are highly sought after collectors' items. Indicolite is strongly pleochroic (shows different hues when viewed from different angles). The Romans reportedly used indicolite, especially in carved brooches that often bore images of animals, because they believed it had strange occult powers. It was rediscovered in Europe in 1703 when the Dutch imported indicolite they had obtained in Sri Lanka. Generally, only indicolite stones under one carat are available and as a result larger sizes are very rare and sought after.
Two colored tourmaline
It wasn't until the 1970s that two-tone tourmaline began to be used in jewelry.
Due to its complex chemical composition, tourmaline comes in many colors. Two colored tourmaline is due to differences caused by environmental changes. At different times, different color-producing elements (iron, manganese, titanium, chromium and vanadium) were incorporated into the crystal, leading to different color layers. Purposefully cut to display this feature, bicolor tourmaline displays a beautiful contrast between its colors, usually pink and green, in a gemstone.
Two colored tourmaline should not be confused with watermelon tourmaline. Watermelon tourmaline is a crystal where the inner part shows pink surrounded by green. They are usually thinly sliced in sections, like a loaf of bread, and polished to show the "watermelon" effect.
Paraíba tourmaline
The world was introduced to Paraíba tourmaline by Brazilian mine owner Heitor Dimas Barbosa in 1989. Convinced that there were fine stones in the mountains of the Brazilian state of Paraíba, it took him five years before he managed to unearth his first Paraíba tourmaline crystal.
While Paraíba tourmalines were first found in Brazil's Paraíba state, stones of the same color and composition have now been found in nearby Rio Grande do Norte State (Brazil). The first African find was discovered in 2001 at the Edoukou mine in Oyo (Nigeria), near the border with Benin. Also in 2001, farmers in Mozambique's Nampula province of Paraíba discovered tourmalines. However, this material did not enter the market on a large scale until 2006.
When the Paraíba tourmaline was first discovered in Brazil, it was different from all other tourmaline varieties previously known. The color of this gemstone ranges from intense emerald green through Windex blue to a rich sapphire blue and continues along the spectrum to indigo, intense violet (similar to fine amethyst), purple and even red.
Paraíba tourmaline has an extremely good luster even in low light. Top Brazilian paraíbas can fetch as much as SEK 200,000 per carat or more on the wholesale gemstone market.
Paraíba tourmaline gets its spectacular colors from small amounts of copper, with manganese and iron. Greater amounts of copper produce more blue and turquoise colors, while elevated manganese produces more purple and red hues. While most Paraíba tourmalines are under one carat, gems from Mozambique can reach sizes up to 40 carats or more. As with emeralds, inclusions are common in Paraíba tourmaline, making its color the main beauty. Its beautiful bright colors have made Paraíba tourmaline hugely popular within a short time.
Rubelite tourmaline
Rubelite, deriving its name from the Latin word rubellus, meaning "coming from red" is a lustrous, reddish pink and purple-toned tourmaline. During the 17th century, on behalf of the Tsar of Russia, many gemstone jewelry were designed for the Imperial Crown Court. However, gems originally thought to be rubies have later been found to be Rubelite.
Extremely rare, rubelite has taken the jewelry world by storm in recent years following the discovery of new deposits. Madagascar rubelite comes from mines 4 miles outside the town of Betafo in Antananarivo province in Madagascar's central highlands. Interestingly, this mine produces some truly unique rubelites whose color is close to the famous rubies.
The largest rubelite finds are from the 19th century when they were discovered in Brazil. This country continues to be a major supplier, especially in the state of Minas Gerais. Some of the finest stones came from Ouro Fino in Coronel, Murta (Minas Gerais). Discovered around 1983 and already in 1985 the mine was developed. Ouro Fino rubelite has achieved legendary status in the gem world.
Surprisingly, Southern California's Pala District was also once an important source, especially in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The blue-capped rubelite crystals from the tourmaline queen mine are world famous among mineral collectors.
In the summer of 1998, a new rubelite deposit was discovered in an agricultural area 4 miles from the ancient city of Ibadan in Nigeria, West Africa. This material was exceptionally clean with top color. Within just a few short years, over 1,000 kg of rough rock had been taken out of the ground, and just as quickly as it appeared, the mine was fully developed.
In 2007, another important find was made, this time near Chimoio, Mozambique (near the border with Zimbabwe).
With the exception of ruby and red spinel, rubelite is the only gemstone that occurs in such a rich, dark red color. Like emerald, inclusions in rubelite are common. The chemical element that colors rubelite (manganese) actually causes the growing crystal to become internally impure (ie, the more manganese present, the darker the red color, and the more inclusions in the final crystal). It is therefore extremely rare to find a colorful rubelite that is internally clean. Rubelites also tend to have more natural inclusions, as they form near the center of the crystal pocket, and thus receive more stress and pressure during formation. However, rubelite is a very durable gemstone, well suited for everyday jewelry.
Basic facts:
Month stone: October
Origin: Afghanistan, Brazil, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Zambia & USA
Colors: Various
Family: Tourmaline
Hardness: 7 – 7.5
Refractive Index: 1.61 – 1.66
Specific Gravity: 2.82 – 3.32
Treatment: Usually not treated
Tourmaline has a colorful and romantic history and comes in an incredible array of beautiful colors. Tourmaline is found in a palette of over 100 different shades, and is one of the world's most diverse gemstones. This has resulted in the nickname "chameleon gem", which is doubly appropriate when you consider that a major source of tourmaline is Madagascar, home to more than half of the world's chameleon species.
The name tourmaline comes from the Sinhalese word tourmali (to mix), due to a historical tendency for tourmaline to be mixed and mistaken for other gemstone varieties.
Myths and legends
Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) was partly responsible for tourmaline's resurgence in Europe when tourmaline gems were sold to Dutch traders who imported them to the West in the 15th century.
The Dutch were the first to discover that this precious stone, like quartz, had a unique property, piezoelectricity. When tourmaline is heated or rubbed, an electrical charge is created, and the stone becomes a magnet that attracts other light materials.
One monarch who was particularly enchanted by tourmaline was the Empress Dowager Tz'u Hsi, the last empress of China. She loved tourmaline so much, and was so rich, that she bought almost a ton of tourmaline from San Diego, California's pegmatite district.
Tourmaline facts
Due to their crystal size, tourmalines are often cut into long rectangular shapes along the crystal axis.
Tourmaline crystals occur in granitic pegmatite veins in the large gemstone districts in eg Minas Gerais in Brazil, San Diego County in the USA, and the East African countries of Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Madagascar and Nigeria.
Tourmaline is a group of mineral species. But it is the mineral elbaite (named after the island of Elba off the nearby west coast of Italy, where it was discovered) that is responsible for almost all of tourmaline's most famous gemstone varieties.
Tourmaline very rarely has a cat's eye effect. Chatoyancy or cat's eye is a reflective effect that appears as a single bright band of light across the surface of a gemstone.
All tourmalines can display Pleochroism, which means that the stone can show color changes when viewed from different angles. However, this can vary from stone to stone. In some cases this effect is barely noticeable, while in others it is strongly evident.
Green tourmaline
Normally free of inclusions, green tourmaline offers consumers everything they want in an emerald, but with better clarity. Green Tourmaline has become popular with collectors in recent years. Chrome tourmaline is an intense green variety of tourmaline found in East Africa. Despite the name, most chrome tourmalines are actually colored by vanadium.
Indicolite tourmaline
Ranging in color from light to deep blue, indicolite tourmaline is rare and high-quality specimens are highly sought after collectors' items. Indicolite is strongly pleochroic (shows different hues when viewed from different angles). The Romans reportedly used indicolite, especially in carved brooches that often bore images of animals, because they believed it had strange occult powers. It was rediscovered in Europe in 1703 when the Dutch imported indicolite they had obtained in Sri Lanka. Generally, only indicolite stones under one carat are available and as a result larger sizes are very rare and sought after.
Two colored tourmaline
It wasn't until the 1970s that two-tone tourmaline began to be used in jewelry.
Due to its complex chemical composition, tourmaline comes in many colors. Two colored tourmaline is due to differences caused by environmental changes. At different times, different color-producing elements (iron, manganese, titanium, chromium and vanadium) were incorporated into the crystal, leading to different color layers. Purposefully cut to display this feature, bicolor tourmaline displays a beautiful contrast between its colors, usually pink and green, in a gemstone.
Two colored tourmaline should not be confused with watermelon tourmaline. Watermelon tourmaline is a crystal where the inner part shows pink surrounded by green. They are usually thinly sliced in sections, like a loaf of bread, and polished to show the "watermelon" effect.
Paraíba tourmaline
The world was introduced to Paraíba tourmaline by Brazilian mine owner Heitor Dimas Barbosa in 1989. Convinced that there were fine stones in the mountains of the Brazilian state of Paraíba, it took him five years before he managed to unearth his first Paraíba tourmaline crystal.
While Paraíba tourmalines were first found in Brazil's Paraíba state, stones of the same color and composition have now been found in nearby Rio Grande do Norte State (Brazil). The first African find was discovered in 2001 at the Edoukou mine in Oyo (Nigeria), near the border with Benin. Also in 2001, farmers in Mozambique's Nampula province of Paraíba discovered tourmalines. However, this material did not enter the market on a large scale until 2006.
When the Paraíba tourmaline was first discovered in Brazil, it was different from all other tourmaline varieties previously known. The color of this gemstone ranges from intense emerald green through Windex blue to a rich sapphire blue and continues along the spectrum to indigo, intense violet (similar to fine amethyst), purple and even red.
Paraíba tourmaline has an extremely good luster even in low light. Top Brazilian paraíbas can fetch as much as SEK 200,000 per carat or more on the wholesale gemstone market.
Paraíba tourmaline gets its spectacular colors from small amounts of copper, with manganese and iron. Greater amounts of copper produce more blue and turquoise colors, while elevated manganese produces more purple and red hues. While most Paraíba tourmalines are under one carat, gems from Mozambique can reach sizes up to 40 carats or more. As with emeralds, inclusions are common in Paraíba tourmaline, making its color the main beauty. Its beautiful bright colors have made Paraíba tourmaline hugely popular within a short time.
Rubelite tourmaline
Rubelite, deriving its name from the Latin word rubellus, meaning "coming from red" is a lustrous, reddish pink and purple-toned tourmaline. During the 17th century, on behalf of the Tsar of Russia, many gemstone jewelry were designed for the Imperial Crown Court. However, gems originally thought to be rubies have later been found to be Rubelite.
Extremely rare, rubelite has taken the jewelry world by storm in recent years following the discovery of new deposits. Madagascar rubelite comes from mines 4 miles outside the town of Betafo in Antananarivo province in Madagascar's central highlands. Interestingly, this mine produces some truly unique rubelites whose color is close to the famous rubies.
The largest rubelite finds are from the 19th century when they were discovered in Brazil. This country continues to be a major supplier, especially in the state of Minas Gerais. Some of the finest stones came from Ouro Fino in Coronel, Murta (Minas Gerais). Discovered around 1983 and already in 1985 the mine was developed. Ouro Fino rubelite has achieved legendary status in the gem world.
Surprisingly, Southern California's Pala District was also once an important source, especially in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The blue-capped rubelite crystals from the tourmaline queen mine are world famous among mineral collectors.
In the summer of 1998, a new rubelite deposit was discovered in an agricultural area 4 miles from the ancient city of Ibadan in Nigeria, West Africa. This material was exceptionally clean with top color. Within just a few short years, over 1,000 kg of rough rock had been taken out of the ground, and just as quickly as it appeared, the mine was fully developed.
In 2007, another important find was made, this time near Chimoio, Mozambique (near the border with Zimbabwe).
With the exception of ruby and red spinel, rubelite is the only gemstone that occurs in such a rich, dark red color. Like emerald, inclusions in rubelite are common. The chemical element that colors rubelite (manganese) actually causes the growing crystal to become internally impure (ie, the more manganese present, the darker the red color, and the more inclusions in the final crystal). It is therefore extremely rare to find a colorful rubelite that is internally clean. Rubelites also tend to have more natural inclusions, as they form near the center of the crystal pocket, and thus receive more stress and pressure during formation. However, rubelite is a very durable gemstone, well suited for everyday jewelry.