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Tourmaline
Tourmalines have a variety of exciting colors with one of the widest color ranges of any gem.
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Tourmaline History and Lore
Somewhere in Brazil in the 1500s, a Spanish conquistador washed the dirt from a green tourmaline crystal and confused the vibrant gem with emerald. His confusion lived on until scientists recognized tourmaline as a distinct mineral species in the 1800s.
Tourmaline Care and Cleaning Guide
Learn about tourmaline's durability and how to care for your tourmaline jewelry.
Paraíba Tourmaline with Unusual Coating
A coated Paraíba tourmaline is seen for the first time at a GIA lab.
Rubellite with Incredibly Strong “Pink Sleeves”
Radiation-induced pink sleeves are seen in a rubellite cabochon.
“Paraíba”-Type Copper-Bearing Tourmaline from Brazil, Nigeria, and Mozambique: Chemical Fingerprinting By LA-ICP-MS
Gem-quality bright blue to green “Paraíba”-type Cu-bearing tourmaline is now known from deposits in Africa (Nigeria and Mozambique), in addition to three commercial localities in Brazil (in Paraíba and Rio Grande do Norte States).
Trapiche Tourmaline from Zambia
Well-formed crystals of green tourmaline from northwestern Zambia show a growth pattern reminiscent of trapiche emerald/ruby when sliced perpendicular to the c-axis.
Gem Pegmatites of Minas Gerais, Brazil: The Tourmalines of the Araçuaí Districts
This second article in the series on Minas Gerais describes the major tourmaline deposits which produce some of the finest specimens ever seen.
Interesting Red Tourmaline from Zambia
A new source of red tourmaline is identified in Zambia.
Blue Dravite-Uvite Tourmaline from Koksha Valley, Afghanistan
A new find of tourmaline yields surprising results.
Yellow Mn-rich Tourmaline from the Canary Mining Area, Zambia
The most important source of yellow gem elbaite is the Canary mining area in the Lundazi District of eastern Zambia.
Bicolor Cuprian Tourmaline
The Tokyo laboratory reports on a bicolor copper-bearing tourmaline with bodycolor ranging from bluish green to dark yellowish green.
Tourmaline Description
Tourmalines come in a wide variety of exciting colors. In fact, tourmaline has one of the widest color ranges of any gem species, occurring in various shades of virtually every hue.
