Summary: This stunning stone in colors ranging from all shades of green, blue, yellow, black, pink, red and clear is a feast to one's eyes. Word tourmaline itself comes from Ceylon or as it is now known as Sri Lankan word "Turumali", it means "gemstone" or sometimes referred as "mixed parcel" as it contains variety of minerals.
I was first introduced to this stunning stone called Tourmaline when I first
laid my eyes on this exquisite pink stone and have been a great fan of this
multi-colored stone ever since. The more and more I learnt about this gem the
more I am in awe of this stone, astounded by its range of colors and its beauty.
This stunning stone in colors ranging from all shades of green, blue, yellow,
black, pink, red and clear is a feast to one's eyes. Word tourmaline itself
comes from Ceylon or as it is now known as Sri Lankan word "Turumali", it means
"gemstone" or sometimes referred as "mixed parcel" as it contains variety of
minerals. It is also called "Verdalite" which comes from Latin, known as
"greenstone".
Tourmaline is a collectors delight as we find enthusiastic collectors from
all parts of the world on the look out for the rarest of colors, size of the
stone, the setting and the concentration of colors with little or no banding of
colors.
"Color" -this gives the beauty to tourmalines. Colors in every hue, shade and
nuance graces this stone. Some tourmalines even have more than one color. The
color that the stone gets depends on the place from where it is mined. Pariba
tourmaline is a electric blue stone. While Brazil is home to green and bluish
green tourmaline.
SriLanka possesses Rubellite which is blessed with colors of ruby ranging from
pink to red. Malawi produces bright yellow tourmalines.
Some of the varieties of tourmalines are Rubellite (red), Indicolite ( blue),
Chromolite (rich green), Canary (bright yellow), Watermelon ( green-edge and
red-heart combo) Paraiba ( intense green to rich blue), Bi-color (more than one
colored) Cats eye (variety of colors) and Color-change (Color changes with light
from red to green ). Rest of the tourmalines are just called with the color
prefix like pink-tourmaline. The color of the stone takes a different hue
depending on the mineral and the proportion in which is present in it . Pariba
tourmaline is said to have copper in small amount and even traces of gold.
"Cut" this is also an important factor one must remember when looking for
tourmaline. It can be as varied as its color and can add or subtract to the
beauty of the stone. Each cut can bring out the colors differently. Always go in
for the cut-style that is appealing to you, making sure that the angles are
right, light is coming back to the eye in a pleasing way and bring out the
colors beautifully. Usually lighter colored tourmalines are oriented with table
facet perpendicular to the c-axis to bring out the deepest color. Tourmalines are
usually cut as rounds, triangles, trillions and ovals.
Tourmaline is quite a hard stone with it hardness being 7.5. Tourmalines must be
protected from scratches and blows, this is to warn you that one must not wear
them while boxing or wrestling!!!!.
Large temperature changes could cause harm to the stone.
"Clarity"- Usually tourmalines always comes with inclusions and can never be
clean as diamonds. Tourmaline is a very popular gem with its price ranging from
fairly affordable to being very expensive depending on the concentration of
color and size of the stone.
"Carats" which means the weight of the stone. It becomes dearer with the
increasing weight of the stone which is measured in carats. A carat is
approximately one fifth of a gram. Larger stones being rare is very
valuable. Paraiba being the most expensive tourmaline. .
So the 4 C's play an important role in determining the value of a gemstone
and have to be considered while we are buying tourmaline too. They influence the
fifth C being the "Cost".
Tourmaline has this physical property to change its electric charge when heated
so in seventeenth century Dutch sailors brought tourmaline to Europe and used
them to clean the pipes as it attracted ash other light objects by becoming
polarized crystalline magnet. they called them "aschntrekkers"
Moreover the very unusual colors of tourmaline ranging from electric blue to
emerald green, from ruby red to exquisite pink is sure to attract
attention. Tourmaline can also be used as birthstone as it comes in all colors
and birthstones are determined by the color of the stones. Many mystical
properties are also attributed to this exquisite gem. Pink tourmaline is said to
enhance female balance and protection while green tourmaline is its counterpart
enhancing male balance. Legend also has it that the wearer of all colors of
tourmalines are protected from evil-eyes, misfortunes and wards off danger.
Multi-coloured tourmaline is also the anniversary birth-stone on the 8th year of
marriage. So if one's marriage is on the rocks its time to get this rock. It is
an eye candy if it is set in the right way.
While we are shopping for tourmalines we should enquire as to where it came
from, its size and the richness of color. One must also examine the tourmaline
in all kinds of lighting before buying as it can look completely different in
day-light and in incandescent lighting. Soon one can become a connoisseur and be
able to discern the finest of gem and be able to appreciate them. Tourmaline's
wide spectrum of colors provides innumerable options for any kind of jewellery
to go with any kind of outfit making it a collectors delight.
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