Tourmaline

Tourmaline has the distinction of being the most colorful gemstone. At least, that is, the gemstone occurring in the widest array of colors.

There are more colors of tourmaline than there are colors of any other kind of gemstone. Tourmaline is found in every color of the rainbow (and then some) including pink tourmaline, green tourmaline, black tourmaline, and blue tourmaline.

Tourmaline is mined in several regions of the world. Sometimes you can tell the color (or range of colors) by the name of the tourmaline. For instance, Maine tourmaline (from the U.S. state of Maine) indicates beautiful sherbet colored tourmaline and mint green tourmaline. Paraiba tourmaline is incredibly colored in vivid greens and blues.

Pink tourmaline and green tourmaline have shown to be two of the most popular colors of tourmaline with buyers and collectors. They are highly prized in designer jewelry settings, notably pink tourmaline earrings. Blue tourmaline is also prized for designer jewels, but is less abundant than pink and green tourmaline.

There are also more combinations of colors in the gem stone tourmaline than in any other type of gemstone. Two and three colors in one stone are found with a fair amount of frequency. These are bi-color and tri-color tourmalines. Combinations of pink and green tourmaline are very popular. These are called watermelon tourmaline because of their resemblance to the large fruit. Watermelon tourmalines are sometimes sliced to be set to mimic the real thing.

Like so many gemstones, there is legend of black tourmaline mystical properties. The black tourmaline magical properties center on the artistic.
Black tourmaline metaphysical properties are thought to enhance artistic intuition because tourmaline has several faces and shows expression of mood.

If you are buying black tourmaline you will want to learn how to cleanse black tourmaline to maintain its shine. Tourmaline is a durable stone that will last a lifetime, but heat and steam should be avoided.

There are endless setting options and gem combination options for tourmaline jewelry, primarily because it is the most widely colored stone. A nice setting for tourmaline jewelry is tourmaline white gold bracelets. A nice example of a combination setting is black tourmaline and rose quartz.

With so many combinations of tourmaline and so many naturally combined colors, it is difficult to summarize all the setting and style possibilities tourmaline has. In this light, online shopping is the ideal venue for tourmaline purchase. Vast and endless selections of tourmaline jewelry are available online. So many possibilities in so many colors…it is no wonder such a varied work of beauty is a muse for the artistic.