Tourmaline
Information
In terms of colour, tourmalines are the
cornucopia of mother nature's colour spectrum. No other
gemstone offers more variety of colour than the tourmaline.
The origin of "tourmaline" is subject of argument, however, it has
been suggested that it originated from the Sinhalese turnali,
a name applied by local jewellers to yellow zircon.
Tourmaline has been found in significant
quantities in Brazil, California, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Africa,
Madagascar and Sri Lanka. Recently there has been an
interesting find in Mozambique of green and purple tourmaline,
although because of the inclusion properties it is also being called
rubellite, a term ordinarily reserved for red tourmaline.
Paraiba tourmaline from Northeastern
Brazil (at Paraiba), is a magnificent blue or green colour that is
highly prized and is the rarest and most expensive of all
tourmalines It has wholesaled at over $10,000 USD per carat.
| RI: 1.62-1.65 |
SG:
3.00-3.26 |
Hardness:
7-7.5 |
Toughness: Fair |
| Treatments:
Commonly heated |
| Care Tips:
Avoid ultrasonic cleaners and sudden temperature changes |
Value: Chrome
tourmaline up to $2000 USD per carat
Green
tourmaline up to $500 USD per carat
Rubellite up
to $800 USD per carat
Indicolite up
to $1000 USD per carat
Bi-coloured
tourmaline up to $800 USD per carat
Cat's Eye up
to $700 per carat (Newman, 2003) |
Birthstone for October and 8th Wedding
Anniversary stone.
Tourmalines can be purchased securely on this
web site at bargain prices ... see
here
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