Tourmaline - TRM3

Beautiful, colorful, phenomenal tourmaline may be the world’s most versatile and varied gemstone.

Tourmaline is available in more colors than any other gemstone, so it is fitting that it serves as the birthstone for October, when the seasons change in the Northern hemisphere and trees are alive with color.  In addition to its status as the October birthstone, tourmaline is also the gem of the eighth wedding anniversary. The name comes from the Singhalese words “tura mali,” which translates to “stone with mixed colors.” It is the gemstone of love and of friendship and is said to render the wearer’s relationships firm and long-lasting. 

 “Tourmaline is an incredible gem that comes in many unique colors, and I think that's why people like them so much,” says gem dealer Tracy Lindway of Gems by Nomads, New York City. “People can choose a gem in the precise color that speaks to them... and chances are their friends and neighbors won't have a stone in the exact same color. Tourmaline is a gem that really lets the wearer show his/her individuality,” says Lindway.   

Pink tourmaline is colored by the trace element manganese. Rubellite is pink, red, purplish red, orange red or brownish red tourmaline. It is as beautiful as ruby but can only be called rubellite if it continues to display the same fine ruby red in artificial light as it does in daylight. If the color changes when the light source does, the stone is called a pink or shocking pink tourmaline.

Tourmaline can be found all over the world, but most is mined in Brazil and Africa. It can also be sourced in Afghanistan and nearby regions, and there are even some scattered mines in the U.S. In Africa it is mined in Mozambique, Zambia, Namibia, Madagascar and Nigeria. According to New York gem dealer Tracy Lindway, there is no one location where the “best” tourmaline is mined. “Each geographic source can produce both very fine tourmaline and lower grade tourmaline.