Tourmaline, a perennial favorite of the gem world has long been one of the most consistently popular gem types available. Although not as glamorous as ruby, sapphire or emerald, in reality the beauty of tourmaline and the value of certain tourmaline types means they can be as every bit as precious.

A bright, clean gem that comes in a kaleidoscopic assortment of colors, tourmaline's name derives from the Sri-Lankan Sinhalese language word "turmali", meaning "mixed" - and with the exception of quartz-based gems, tourmaline must be the most diversely colored gem type in the world. Its diversity of color also includes color zonings, whereby concentric or attractive line patterns of two or three different colors within one gem are frequently seen. Other diverse effects that add beauty and value to tourmaline are phenomena such as cat's eyes and color change.

With the depth and diversity of colors and effects seen in the tourmaline family, novices to the arcane world of gems can find the species as a whole comparatively hard to understand compared to less diverse gem types. Beauty, color, rarity, size, optical effects, patterns, market demands and more must all be accounted for.

Color Is The Most Important Factor In Determining A Tourmaline's Value

As mentioned above, tourmaline occurs in every color of the rainbow, and within these, multiple combinations of colors also occur in single gems. Many tourmalines have been given specific names that are used when discussing the gem. Sometimes these named varieties are treated as a gem type within their own right. Briefly, the most commonly attributed names to the different tourmaline colors are:

Paraiba Tourmaline

A rare variety of neon blue-green tourmaline, Paraiba tourmaline can occur in truly astonishingly bright neon hues and can command prices as high as many thousands of dollars per carat! A copper content tourmaline found in a single area in Paraiba, Brazil, it is generally found in comparatively small sizes for tourmaline. Recent finds of copper content tourmaline in Nigeria have also produced identical looking bright neon tourmaline.
 

Rubellite

Ranging in color from hot pinks to the deep reds reminiscent of ruby, rubellite frequently exhibits more beauty and sparkle than its far more expensive look-a-like. Many gems in the Russian Crown jewels made in the 17th Century, originally thought to be "rubies", are in reality rubellite tourmalines. They make excellent alternatives to rubies and offer superb value for money by comparison.

The most popular and in demand type of tourmaline, rubellite is often found in large crystal sizes that can easily reach up to 50 Carats in good qualities. After Paraiba tourmaline, rubellite is considered the most expensive variety of tourmaline.
 

Pink Tourmaline

Perennially a favorite, pink tourmaline ambiguously shares a color border with rubellite and many specimens are so close to this boundary that they are priced at a premium. For those tourmalines that remain firmly within the color realms of pink, consumers are offered a color range from very good value pastel pink shades to the slightly more expensive but vivacious colors that approach the hot pink and rubellite color shades.
 

Indicolite

Like all varieties of tourmaline, the blue variety known as indicolite, offers gem and jewelry connoisseurs large bright gems at good value. Ranging from bright blue hues to bluish green colors, indicolite tourmaline is slightly rarer than some of its differently colored brothers and sisters, and high quality specimens are regarded as quite collectable.
 

Chrome Tourmaline

Although a green tourmaline, chrome tourmaline is placed into a different category due to its rich colors that derive from trace elements of chromium. Found in East Africa, chrome tourmaline has developed a small but loyal following, due to its rarity and attractiveness.
 

Green Tourmaline

Typically inclusion-free, green tourmaline offers gem consumers everything they want in an emerald, but at a better price. With a reasonably plentiful supply, bright colors, high clarities and big crystal sizes, the prices of green and chrome green tourmaline are a fraction of the cost of equivalent emeralds. Green tourmaline has been a best seller over the recent years as consumers wise up to tourmaline's value for money beauty.

 

Yellow Tourmaline

Ranging from greenish yellows to buttery like colors to canary yellows, yellow tourmalines are less frequently seen than many other varieties. While pleasant and attractive gems, demand for yellow tourmaline is lower, presumably due to consumer conditioning by the markets. Recent finds of almost neon yellow tourmaline in Malawi, Africa, have produced stunning yellow tourmalines that if recovered in commercial quantities could well change consumer tastes and demands.
 

Water Melon Tourmaline

Variations in color in a crystal's cross-section sometimes have a distinct concentric triangular or hexagonal pattern where a pink core is surrounded by a green rind. The effect is somewhat reminiscent of the green skins and pinkish flesh of watermelons. Often they are cut into thin slices to show this color effect to their best advantage.

Bi Color & Tri Color

Variations, zones and color bands in tourmaline are often purposefully accented cutting style to show the sometimes-attractive bands and zones of color streaking across the gem. Occurring in all colors infinitesimal variations, they are often seen in long acicular crystals.
 

Cat's Eye Tourmalines

Cat's eyes have long been coveted for their beautiful optical effects. Glance at a cat's eye gem and you will see a bright band of light silently gliding across the surface. Cat's eye tourmalines occur in many colors but a most frequently seen in rich green.

Color Change Tourmaline

Color change tourmalines present gem lovers with an opportunity to own a rare and stunning alexandrite effect gem for a fraction of the cost. As if reflecting tourmalines diversity, the color changes occur in many different colors, not just the green to red we usually associate with color change gems such as alexandrite or color change garnet.
 

How Carat Weight Of Tourmaline Affects Per Carat Prices

Tourmaline frequently occurs in large crystal sizes and such large specimens can be thought of as being fairly accessible. Large crystal sizes also help to enhance tourmaline's perceived depth and richness of color.

Similar to most other gems, when the carat weight of a tourmaline increases, so does the price per carat. However, large tourmaline crystals with their abundant occurrence rates are simply more plentiful than in habitually smaller gems such as ruby and sapphire. This means that weight related price jumps in tourmaline are less severe than in ruby and sapphire. Indeed, it is not uncommon for comparable quality 3 Carat, 4 Carat, and 6 Carat tourmalines all to have the same or very similar per carat prices – something that is unthinkable regarding diamond, ruby and sapphire.

Freedom From Inclusions

Ideally a tourmaline should allow the free transmission of light throughout its body without any hindrance – quite literally, the ideal is “crystal clear”. As with all gems reality teaches us to expect a few of nature's imperfections. However, tourmaline is an interesting position of having varying clarity tendencies in accordance to its color.

The GIA divides all colored gems into three categories for the purposes of clarity grading, based upon their habitual tendencies to exhibit inclusions. In order of the least habitually included to the most habitually included, the scale is: Type I, type II and type III. Briefly, these GIA clarity classifications for tourmaline are:

Shape & Cut

Faceted tourmalines (those with flat polished faces) are found in a variety of shapes and styles. Due to the prevalent long acicular crystal shapes of tourmaline, emerald cuts and fairly elongated emerald cuts are commonly seen. Ovals and cushion cuts are common, as well as other shapes such as emerald cuts and hearts shapes.

A perfectly cut tourmaline should always exhibit good symmetry and polish conditions, facets should be aligned straight in relation to the gem's girdle, and also to each other. Polish conditions should be good with no visible surface pits or polishing lines.

Cabochon cuts are most commonly applied to those tourmalines whose clarity is not ideal for faceting. However, they are also used to develop and display cat's eyes in chatoyant tourmaline. Well-cut and proportioned cabochons with good symmetry, which are semi-transparent with smooth un-cracked domes, are the ideal.
 

Classical & Modern Sources of Tourmaline

Tourmaline is mined in Tanzania, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and California and Maine in the United States and countless other countries and locations. Arguably the largest producers are the Minas Gerais and Bahia areas in Brazil, where almost every color of tourmaline is found. However, the only geographical location that imparts any kudos or value to tourmaline in the manner that Mogok does to rubies, is Paraiba in Brazil.
 

The Use Of Heat

Many tourmalines seen on the market today have been subjected to high temperatures in an age-old practice that is said to have originated in Sri Lanka some 2,000 years ago. They are heated at high temperatures to improve their clarity and to intensify their colors. However, there are also many tourmalines on the market are not heated. Unusually, the market makes little or no distinction at all between the heated and non-heated specimens.
 

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