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Tourmaline

Tourmaline is a stone of tremendous variety, producing perhaps the widest spectrum of colour of all gems. Introduced into Europe in the 17th century, tourmaline is found in a number of sources, most notably in Brazil, and goes by a number of names according to its different hue, including rubellite (deep pink), dravite (a brownish green), indicolite (deep blue) and schorl (opaque black tourmaline). Tourmaline is also famed for its striking combinations of colour zones within single crystals, the most famous being ‘watermelon’ tourmaline, where zones of both pink and green are present in the same stone. In recent years, a striking neon blue variety of tourmaline has been discovered in Brazil and Mozambique. Named ‘Paraíba’ tourmaline after the location in Brazil where it was first mined, this hugely popular and highly valuable variety owes its incredible colour to copper impurities, adding yet another hue to the rainbow of colours that tourmaline is capable of producing. Price-wise, most varieties of tourmaline fall below sapphires, rubies and emeralds, which means that for in addition to their rich colours and natural beauty, tourmalines also offer exceptional value for money. At 7-7.5 on the Moh’s scale of hardness, it is also a reasonably durable stone, and able to cope with everyday wear.