A wide selection of natural tourmalines of the highest gem quality with worldwide shipping.
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Reset filterThe name "tourmaline" comes from the Sinhalese word "turamali," which means "mixed colored stones". Tourmaline is known for their variety of color palettes and the amazing attractiveness of the varieties that exist.
The gems are shaped like prismatic crystals. They are characterized by a longitudinal stroke and a rounded triangular cross-section.
Tourmaline has been used for a variety of purposes throughout history. In ancient Egypt, tourmaline was used to make scarabs, small beetle-shaped amulets that were believed to bring good luck.
The first specimens of tourmalines were brought to Europe from Ceylon (Sri Lanka) at the beginning of the 18th century. Europeans owe their acquaintance with these wonderful stones to the Dutch sailors. Interestingly, the sailors used tourmalines for cleaning their smoking pipes. As it turns out, the heating causes the stones electrification and they attract ash, which cleans the pipes. The wide variety of colors of tourmalines led to the fact that they were often confused with other minerals of similar coloring. Pink-red tourmalines became popular in Europe and Russia in the mid-18th century. The wonderful jewelry and decorative objects created by the jeweler Carl Faberge contributed greatly to its popularity.
Today, tourmaline is still used in jewelry, but it also has a number of industrial uses. Tourmaline is a piezoelectric mineral, which means that it generates an electric charge when it is subjected to mechanical stress. This property has been used to create pressure sensors and other electronic devices. Tourmaline is also used as a gemstone in jewelry and other decorative items. Designers from the leading jewelry companies regularly use them in their collections.
Tourmaline jewelry became fashionable in the XVIII century. These stones were repeatedly confused with other gems and used to decorate the crowns of kings and emperors. Modern jewelry brands regularly release collections with tourmalines. But the jewelry pieces with these beautiful stones are very rarely seen in the showcases of Russian jewelry stores. The thing is that tourmalines are quite rare as compared to amethysts, citrines, or blue topaz. Almost all jewelry pieces with tourmalines are exclusive. Most often, there are different models of earrings and rings decorated with tourmalines, but jewelry sets are seldom sold. All kinds of jewelry pieces made by the well-known brands of Tiffany & Co, Van Cleef & Arpels, Chopard, and Bulgari are extremely popular
Tourmalines have a rather high hardness of 7-7,5 on the Mohs scale.
Tourmalines have a very complex chemical composition, due to the possibility of substitution of the atomic structure of the crystal lattice without disturbances of its structural form. Experts gemologists made a division of the family of tourmalines into several groups differing in chemical composition:
Participants of the market of precious gems is almost not used the names of these groups. Note that the color and some other physical properties of tourmalines depend on the chemical composition of minerals. The presence of iron ions or titanium characteristic blue, blue, green, yellow, orange, brown, brown crystals. Emerald green tone depends on the presence of chromium ions or iron. In minerals pink and red color is present, the admixture of manganese.
The four C's are the accepted standard for judging the quality and value of diamonds. This method is also used to evaluate gemstones:
Specialists do not synthesize tourmalines. Various methods of treatment are used to enhance the quality of the coloring of stones. Thermal treatment is used to brighten tourmalines with dark green or blue-green coloring. If the pinkish-red tourmalines are heated strongly, they discolor completely. Because of this, the darker stones go through a low-temperature heat treatment. The temperature treatment removes the entire gamut of unnecessary pink-purple tonality in the Paraiba tourmalines, leaving beautiful blue and greenish-blue tones.
The irradiation technique is necessary when improving the color saturation of pink-tinted tourmalines. In addition, irradiation of colorless stones gives them a pink hue, and irradiation of light yellow tourmalines adds to their brightness. Specialists use the technology of filling cracks with polymer to visually improve the clarity of the stones. Paraiba tourmalines with a significant number of cracks are treated with this technology after heat treatment. Discoloration of channels in the stones is performed by acid etching. A diagnostic report from the laboratory is necessary when purchasing tourmalines, especially expensive Paraiba, because the fact of clearing significantly affects the cost of stones.
Most of the high-quality stones for the jewelers come from Brazil. In addition, there are supplies from Mozambique, Madagascar, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Pakistan. Russian tourmalines are mined in the Urals.