Tourmaline

 
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Introduction

Boasting a colorful and romantic history, Tourmaline is October’s birthstone and is a suggested Zodiac gemstone of Librans. While it may not be the world’s most famous gemstone, Tourmaline rivals all but the most unique gems as it is found in an incredible array of gorgeous colors. This has resulted in the nickname "The Chameleon Gem", doubly appropriate when you consider that one 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 “Turmali” meaning “Mixed”, due to its ability to appear in over 100 hues, resulting in a historical tendency for it to be confused and then mixed with other gem varieties. 
 
 
Coming in a palette of over 100 different colors, Tourmaline, with the exception of quartz-based gems, is the most diverse gem type in the world. Although Tourmaline is not as glamorous as its counterparts ruby, sapphire and emerald, in reality the beauty of Tourmaline in all its shades and nuances is every bit as precious.
 
 
 
Legends & Lore
 
Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) was also partly responsible for Tourmaline’s first appearance in Europe when Tourmaline gems were sold to Dutch traders who imported them to the West in the 1600s. 
 
 
The Dutch, aside from admiring Tourmaline for its beauty, first discovered that the gem possessed a unique property. Tourmaline when heated or rubbed creates an electrical charge becoming a magnet that attracts lightweight objects.
 
 
The Dutch used these Tourmaline magnets to clean pipes as their magnetic properties attracted ash, and renamed Tourmaline “Aschentrekkers”, literally meaning one who treks through ashes.
 
 
Today, Tourmalines special property, known as piezoelectricity, has been incorporated into modern technologies such as computers, musical keyboards, cellular phones and other hi-tech devices. 
 
 
Just The Facts
 
Tourmalines occur in large crystal sizes. Because of their size, crystals are usually cut into long rectangular shapes following the axis of the crystal.
 
 
Tourmaline crystals occur in granite pegmatite veins occurring in the great gem mining districts of Minas Gerias in Brazil, and the East African countries of Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi and Madagascar. 
 
 
In the summer of 1998 a new Tourmaline deposit was unearthed near the city of Ibadan in Nigeria, West Africa, proving to be one of the most significant Rubellite Tourmaline discoveries in modern times.
 
 
Tourmaline is a group of mineral species. However it’s the mineral Elbaite that is responsible for almost all of Tourmaline’s most famous gem varieties. Elbaite frequently refers to Green Tourmaline, while the other color forms of Elbaite have their own specific color-related names.
 
 
Very occasionally, Tourmaline sometimes displays the Cats Eye Effect. Chatoyancy or the Cat’s Eye Effect is a reflection effect that appears as a single bright band of light across the surface of a gemstone.
 
 
Bi Color & Tri Color Tourmaline
 
Occurring in infinitesimal color variations, they are often seen in long acicular crystals.
 
 
Beautiful variations, zones and color bands in Tourmaline are often purposefully accented by cutting styles to showcase the attractive bands and zones of color streaking across the gem. 
 
 
 
Green Tourmaline
 
Typically inclusion-free, Green Tourmaline offers gem consumers everything they want in an emerald, but at a better price.
 
 
With bright colors, high clarities and big crystal sizes, the prices of green and chrome green Tourmaline are a fraction of the cost of equivalently sized emeralds.
 
 
Green Tourmaline has been a best seller over the recent years as consumers wise up to Tourmaline's value for money beauty. Chrome Tourmaline is a more expensive variety of Green Tourmaline that bears Chromium, the Midas element responsible for producing particularly striking colors in a variety of gemstones.
 
 
 
Indicolite Tourmaline (Neon Blue)
 
This blue variety of Tourmaline offers gem and Jewelry connoisseurs’ large gems at good value.
 
Ranging from bright blue hues to bluish green colors, Indicolite Tourmaline is rarer than some of its colored brothers and sisters, and high quality specimens are regarded as highly collectable.
 
 
 
Paraiba Tourmaline
 
So rare as to be virtually unattainable, Paraiba Tourmaline is typically a small gem that displays electric swimming pool blues, neon peacocks and sizzling turquoises. Initially discovered at Mina da Bathalha, Paraiba, Brazil, it possesses a unique brilliance that allows the gem to glow and shine even when there is little light. 
 
 
Named after the location of its first discovery, Paraiba, Brazil, the most interesting thing about this gem is that its name is more than just a location. Most Tourmalines get their gorgeous colors from traces of Iron, Manganese, Chromium and Vanadium but Paraiba Tourmaline owes its spectacular colors to small amounts of Copper, an element not typically found in Tourmaline (a spectroscopic analysis of the Copper content is used to confirm its identity). 
 
 
 
Paraiba Tourmaline also often contains Manganese. When combined, the interaction between Copper and Manganese adds to the beautiful and fascinating colors displayed. 
 
 
Interestingly, a recent study by the German Foundation for Gemstone Research also discovered a remarkably high gold content. The average gold content of the Earth's crust is 0.007 parts per million, while Paraiba Tourmaline contains an amazing 8.6 parts per million! 
 
 
Prior to 1989, Mina da Bathalha produced Tourmaline for almost 10 years but the crystals were too fractured or broken to be faceted. Heitor Dimas Barbos "Father of Paraiba Tourmaline” was convinced that better quality Tourmaline could be found. He started digging in abandoned mines near the village of Sao Jose da Batalha in early 1981. In autumn 1989 his persistence finally paid off when he discovered a tiny new vein of gem-quality crystals. By 1994 the relatively small mountain range measuring only 400x200x65 meters had almost been leveled and exhausted in the hunt for Paraiba Tourmaline. Mining Brazilian Paraiba Tourmaline is laborious, unpredictable and erratic. Chipped by hand directly from host metamorphic rock (Granitic Pegmatite), the elusive narrow veins appear and disappear haphazardly, resulting in mines that resemble Swiss cheese, with a multitude of narrow shafts and interconnected tunnels up to 60 meters deep. 
 
 
With the Brazilian deposit all but depleted, the race has been on to find these geological rarities elsewhere. Thankfully, Africa came to the rescue. The first new find was discovered in 2001 at the Edoukou Mine in Oyo (Nigeria), close to the border of Benin and more recently in Zambezia, Mozambique. African Paraiba is believed to exist due to the theory of continental drift (i.e. 200 million years ago the Earth's continents were joined together to form one gigantic super-continent called Pangaea). Comparing the silhouettes of Africa and South America both fit like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle. This suggests they once belonged to a single landmass where similar geological conditions resulted in their formation. In contrast to the Brazilian deposit, African Paraiba Tourmaline is mined from alluvial deposits. 
 
 
While mostly small sizes are extracted (i.e. less than 10 Points) Paraiba Tourmaline from Mozambique has an average size of 2 Carats, which is absolutely amazing considering the norm. Like Emeralds, inclusions are common in Paraiba Tourmaline, making its color the maintain beauty determinant. However, when Paraiba Tourmaline displays clean clarities, rarity increases exceptionally. 
 
 
Its beautiful vivid colors have made Paraiba Tourmaline hugely popular within a short time. An uncommon color for the gem kingdom, Paraiba Tourmaline even enchants those accustomed to seeing a wide variety of gems. 
 
 
One of the world’s most desired and most valued gemstones, gem traders the world over compete for new Paraiba Tourmaline. Paraiba Tourmaline is a gem whose impossible rarity is only surpassed by its unrivaled beauty - there is simply never enough to go around. 
 
 
Rubellite Tourmaline (Red)
 
Rubellite’s sensuous mélange is the personification of seduction, no other colors display its comparable feminine flair. Whispering in passionate pinks and suggestive purples, Rubellite affords the perfect romance in an opulence of red. Once aware of the extravagance and beauty of this gemstone, a woman can not be parted from her Rubellite, a gem of seduction.
 
 
Rubellite, deriving its name from the Latin word “Rubellus” meaning “Coming From Red” is a lustrous, reddish pink and purple toned variety of Tourmaline.
 
 
 
Extremely rare, Rubellite has taken the Jewelry world by storm in recent years following the discovery of deposits in Madagascar and Nigeria.
 
 
Madagascan Rubellite heralds from mines located 26 miles from the town of Betafo, in the Antananarivo Province in Madagascar’s Central Highlands. Interestingly, this deposit produces some truly unique Rubellites whose color is close to that of the famous pigeon blood rubies of Mogok, Burma.
 
 
Later on in 17th Century, the Tsar of Russia commissioned many items of gemstone Jewelry to be made for the Imperial Crown Court. However, recently what were originally thought to be precious rubies, in reality have been discovered to be Rubellite Tourmalines. A prodigious example of the excellent “value for money” alternative that Rubellite can make to ruby.
 
 
Another monarch enchanted by Tourmaline was the Empress Dowager Tz'u Hsi, the last Empress of China. She loved Tourmaline so much that she bought almost a ton of it, even going to her eternal resting place on a pillow carved from Rubellite. During the Manchu Dynasty in China, members of the Mandarin class wore round buttons made of Rubellite tourmaline, distinguishing themselves from other classes of citizens.
 
 
With the exception of ruby and its frequent imitator noble red spinel, Rubellite is the only other gemstone that occurs in such a rich, dark-red color. Interestingly, Rubellite frequently exhibits more beauty and sparkle than its far more expensive look-a-like. 
 
 
The most popular and “In Demand” variety of Tourmaline, Rubellite is occasionally found in large crystal sizes that reach up to a staggering 50 Carats. 
 
 
Like emerald, inclusions in Rubellite are common. The chemical elements that color Rubellite red or pink actually cause a growing crystal to become internally flawed or cracked. The more the elements are present, the darker the red color, and the more imperfect the final crystal. It is therefore extremely rare to find dark violet, pink or red Rubellite that is internally “Clean” in large quantities.
 
 
Rubellites also tend to have more natural inclusions than other Tourmaline colors because they are formed near the center of the crystal pocket, and receive more stress and pressure during formation. After the fabled and now virtually non-existent Paraiba Tourmaline, Rubellite is considered the most expensive of the Tourmaline family, with eye clean Rubellite being the most prized.
 
 
Like any other color of Tourmaline, Rubellite displays pleochroism meaning that its color changes when viewed at different angles. However, this can vary from specimen to specimen. In some, this effect is hardly noticeable, while in others it is strongly apparent. To bring out the best color, gemstone cutters must take this into account when cutting Rubellite, a factor that is further accentuated when producing calibrated Rubellite in large quantities. 
 
 
Rubellite is a relatively hard gem and a very good choice for Jewelry but as with all gemstones they should be treated with respect. Warm, soapy water and a soft brush is the best way to clean Rubellite. 
 
 
Watermelon Tourmaline
 
Color variations in a crystal's cross-section sometimes have distinct concentric triangular or hexagonal patterns, where a pink core is surrounded by a green rind. 
 
 
The effect is somewhat reminiscent of the green skins and pinkish flesh of watermelons. They are often cut into thin slices to showcase this color effect to their best advantage.
 
 
Yellow Tourmaline
 
Ranging from greenish yellows to canary yellows, these Tourmalines are less frequently seen than many other varieties.
 
Recent finds of almost neon yellow Tourmaline in Malawi, Africa have produced stunning gems, which if recovered in commercial quantities could well change consumer tastes and demands.