Gemstones often evoke images of ancient treasures and distant lands. One of the most beautiful and versatile semi precious gemstones we have today was discovered as recently as the 1700's. It comes not only from exotic places such as the Himalayas and Brazil, but also right here in our New England backyard. In 1820, two young boys from Maine discovered one of the richest deposits of tourmaline at Mount Mica. In addition to being the state gemstone of Maine, pink tourmaline is the modern birthstone for the month of October.

A Stone of Many Colors
Tourmaline is a unique gemstone in that it comes in almost every color of the rainbow. In fact, the word tourmaline comes from the Singhalese expression "tura mali", which means "stone of mixed colors." Sometimes these colors are mixed within a single bead. The most common colors for tourmaline include:

• Rubellite: Reddish Dark Pink
• Elbaite / Watermelon: Pink, Green & Colorless
• Indicolite: Greenish Blue
• Dravite: Brown
• Schorl: Black

Tourmaline is also found as an inclusion within other stones, such as tourmalinated quartz, which has black or green fiber-like tourmaline crystals throughout the stone.

It's Electric!
A fascinating quality of tourmaline is that it has "pyro electric" properties, meaning that it becomes charged and polarized when heated. Because of this, jewelers usually do not display tourmaline in a window where it could become heated because the charge may actually attract dust to the stones! Tourmaline's pyro electric nature also makes it useful in industrial and scientific instruments. Some associate tourmaline with more mystical properties, using it as a talisman against misfortune, or as a tool for balancing the body's chakras.

Beautiful Shapes
Tourmaline is a gemstone with a high level of hardness, making it able to be cut into fancy shapes, such as faceted briolettes and rondelles. Often though, the natural crystalline structure of tourmaline is left untouched. Watermelon tourmaline grows in triangular shaped crystals which are then cut into stained glass-like slices that showcase their colorful rings. Delicate stick-shaped crystals of tourmaline are sometimes side drilled for a dramatic, icy look. Depending on the cut and quality of the stone, tourmaline can be both dichroic (showing more than one color when viewed at different angles) and chatoyant, meaning that it has cat's eye-like luster. This luster is created form the presence of hollow channels or thin inclusions within the stone.

Selecting Tourmaline Beads
You may notice when you are shopping at Beadworks that most tourmaline comes in multi-color strands. The watermelon hues of fuchsia, green and brown compliment almost any wardrobe and skin tone and are attractive with either silver or gold findings. Tourmaline is also sold in color-grouped strands and is usually found in different shades of green, pink or brown. Once popular in Victorian-era mourning jewelry, black (schorl) tourmaline has made a comeback in this season's popular designs. Whether you prefer delicate, sparkly jewelry or something more organic and natural, tourmaline has a color and cut to compliment your individual style.

Content provided in part by:
R.V. Dietrich, The Tourmaline Group, ©1985 Van Nostrand Reinhold Company Inc.
www.gemstone.org
www.state.me.us