Polychrome Tourmaline (Bi-Color Tourmaline)

Polychrome (multi-color) tourmaline

One of the most unusual and striking colour varieties of the mineral tourmaline is a polychrome tourmaline. These rocks blends two or more colors, which makes them very attractive for jewelry and collectibles. Color zoning can be very smooth, for example, color from bright pink may gradually change to Golden yellow or even orange, and harsh, when one color changes the other, delineating a clear boundary. Color combinations may be different, the most common for polychrome tourmalines color combinations is pink and green, pink and yellow, blue and green, green and yellow, blue and blue. There are samples in which there is a change of three or more colors. Such a rich palette of combinations of colors due to various impurities of chemical elements in the stone.

Due to the shape of the crystals polychrome tourmalines instances are trying to faceting in the form of an elongated octagon or baguette. This cut allows you to show all the beauty of the color change. It is also important to note that the location of zoning relative to the direction of crystal growth can be along it and across. Polychrome tourmalines are also often cut in the form of "slices" (from the English. slice - slice) - thin plates of the mineral, with toleromune core and raw edges. The core of such samples is usually pink, and the edges are green. These "slices" are usually not used for making expensive jewelry and their cost is low. A large plate with a bright and beautiful color transition are often hunting for collectors of minerals.

Collectors were similarly invented the names of some varieties polychrome tourmalines:

• Turk's head is a light-coloured tourmaline crystals with a red, ending with a crystal head.
• The head of the moor is a light-colored crystals with a dark head.

The cost of polychrome tourmalines

The cost of polychrome tourmalines depends on the purity, the weight of the stone, as in stone of pronounced color transition, from the flowers themselves. Large and clean specimens with a beautiful color change on the average on the world stone market worth $100 to $ 400 per carat.

Watermelon tourmaline one of the most spectacular varieties of polychrome tourmalines. Green-red colour of these tourmalines reminiscent of a watermelon in the section. Watermelon tourmalines of high quality (visually clean and large samples with a pronounced color change) are widely used in jewelry. The cost of these stones can be in the range of $150-450 per carat.