Sep

The other October Birthstone: Tourmaline

Did you know?

There are 14 officially recognized varieties of tourmaline.
Tourmaline can have different colors from black, green, pink, yellow, light blue, dark blue, and colorless. Some crystals of tourmaline can contain more colors.
Various colors of tourmaline
The most famous type of multiple coloration is the watermelon tourmaline; it typically changes from red to green in a concentric color zonation, usually from the center out.
Green tourmaline crystal

Pink and green watermelon tourmaline
A colorless variety of tourmaline, achroite, is very rare.
Achroite Colorless Tourmaline
Tourmaline has a hardness of 7-7.5 on the Moh’s hardness scale. Tourmaline is about the same hardness as sand and dust, thus tourmaline is not recommended for use in rings and bracelets for everyday wear.
The name Tourmaline comes from the Sinhalese (Sri Lanka) word tura mali which translates as the stone of mixed colors.
The most expensive tourmalines are the blue indicolite, green verdelite and pink rubellite.
Cat’s Eye Tourmaline presents a “cat’s eye” effect similar to what is usually observed in tiger’s eye cabochons.
Cat's Eye Tourmaline
Ancient legend says that tourmaline is found in all colors because it travelled along a rainbow and gathered all the the rainbow’s colors.
Tourmaline is believed to strengthen the body and spirit, especially the nervous system, blood, and lymph. It is also believed to inspire creativity and was used a lot as a talisman by artists and writers, as “the stone of muse”.
When it is warmed or rubbed, it attracts small bits of paper, lint and ash, usually very light things. This occurs because the gem becomes charged with static electricity.
The stone is known as the “peace stone,” meant to dispel fear and make its wearer calm.