Tourmaline

Tourmaline

Tourmaline is found in a variety of colors. Iron-rich tourmalines are black to bluish black to deep brown. Magnesium-rich varieties are brown to yellow, and lithium-rich tourmalines are almost any color; blue, green, red, yellow, pink, etc. Bi-colored and multicolored crystals are common. They are usually green at one end and pink at the other. Watermelon tourmalines are green on the outside and pink inside.   Tourmalines are 7-7.5 on the Mohs scale.

 
Green and Blue TourmalineGreen and Blue Tourmaline
Tourmaline - a gem of many colors and hues within each shade. Subtle variations of color derive from wildly different trace elements. Iron or Titanium color the gem mint green, a light pastel with hints of soft blue or yellow. Chrome tourmaline is an intense green, colored primarily by a trace element called vanadium. Blue tourmaline is dark violet blue, blue or greenish blue, and is known as indicolite. Often a hint of green color bleeds into the blue.
 
Pink TourmalinePink Tourmaline
Tourmaline is found in a variety of colors: traces of manganese create stunning Pink Tourmaline. Tourmaline can be found all over the world, but most is mined in Brazil and Africa. It can also be sourced in Afghanistan and nearby regions, and there are even some scattered mines in the U.S. In Africa it is mined in Mozambique, Zambia, Namibia, Madagascar and Nigeria. Tourmalines are 7-7.5 on the Mohs scale.
 
Rubellite TourmalineRubellite Tourmaline
The name "rubellite" comes from the Latin 'rubellus', which means reddish. Rubellites are not merely red or shocking pink tourmalines. The important criteria is the way its color behaves in daylight and artificial light. A true rubellite will not change color depending on the light source. Most red or pink tourmalines display a visible tinge of brown in artificial light. Almost all Rubellite Tourmaline is included. Although the inclusions are not visible to the naked eye, they may be seen in these photographs. Rubellites are mainly found in Brazil, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nigeria and Pakistan and some beautiful shocking pink rubellites come from a gemstone mine in the USA. It's hardness on the mohs scale is 7.5.