Tourmaline

As it is found in all spectrums of color, Tourmaline is often described as the "chameleon gemstone". It is not surprising to find a fine tourmaline that mirrors the exact semblance of other gemstones, such as emerald, ruby and sapphire. Some tourmaline crystals may even appear as crystallized rainbows with several bands of color, ranging from the most brilliant red to the deepest blue. Many refer to tourmaline as the "muses' stone", for they believe that its imaginative colors contain inspirational powers which enable the mind of its beholder to bring forth illimitable vision and creativity.

During the Manchu Dynasty in China, members of the Mandarin class wore round buttons made of red tourmaline, distinguishing themselves from other classes of citizens. Dowager Empress Tzu Hsi was so fascinated by tourmaline's beauty and color that she had over one ton of these precious gem stones in her royal collection.

The name tourmaline is believed to have derived from the Sinhalese word, "turmali", meaning "mixed".

With a hardness of 7-7.5, this multitudinous gem is ideal for all types of jewelry setting. Tourmaline earrings, tourmaline necklaces, tourmaline rings and other types of tourmaline jewelry are all well-suited to everyday wear and with its relatively affordable price and the variety of colors available, tourmaline is the perfect gem for those who like to showcase a variety of exquisite jewels.

Tourmaline comes in all spectrums of color, the most common being green and pink. The red variety is often referred to as "rubellite", as its vibrant red color often resembles that of the finest rubies. A rare green chrome variety of tourmaline found in Tanzania is also available, but in small quantities. An extremely rare variety is the Paraiba tourmaline. Found in Brazil, this gemstone exhibits very intense neon-like blue and blue-green colors. Its color is often comparable to the spectacular blue of the finest sapphires. Some tourmaline gems may contain two or more distinctive colors and are commonly known as bi-color, tri-color or parti-color tourmalines.

Tourmaline is available in all sizes ranging from small to over 100 carats; however, stones of a rare color are often found only in smaller sizes. For example it is extremely uncommon to find fine rubellites over 20 carats in weight.

Some color varieties of tourmaline are more included than others. For example it is common to find bi-color and multi-colors stones with visible inclusions.

Similar to the evaluation of other precious stones, the intensity of color and the clarity of the gemstone are the most important considerations. Green chrome and Paraiba tourmalines are the most expensive color varieties, due to their spectacular beauty and rarity. Fine rubellites and multi-color stones will command moderate to high prices depending on the intensity of their color and the existence of eye visible inclusions.