How to Invest in the Right Tourmaline

Tourmaline stone is one of the most beautiful and hardest minerals found in nature. The color palette of the stone can vary from yellow to blue, this is due to the different chemical composition and place of its origin. To date, man has discovered tourmaline minerals of 50 different colors and shades.

Even in ancient times, people considered tourmaline to be a special stone and called it a “magnetic stone” because of its ability to attract dust and ash to itself, it was from that time that rumors appeared about the magical properties of this mineral.

Tourmaline is a mineral, from colorless to black, varies in properties Some have names that are misleading to non-specialists. For example, the green type of tourmaline is known as the Brazilian emerald.

Properties of Tourmaline

Tourmaline is special in every way. Its piezoelectric properties are widely known, when crystals change their usual qualities under external influence, charging, as it should be, oppositely from two sides. The special physical properties of the miracle silicate make it possible to use it in radio engineering, medicine for the manufacture of various devices, including household use (medical pillows, mattresses, healing belts for joints), for air ionization. Thanks to this gem, the polarization of light were discovered, an amazing phenomenon that contributed to the creation of photo filters and even liquid crystal screens.

How to recognize a fake?

They learned how to grow stone for a long time, but the process is so expensive and troublesome that natural tourmaline and its artificial analogue are almost equal in cost.

Much more often glass is given out as a precious mineral, so it is worth knowing how to identify authenticity:

Scratch: there will be no marks on a real stone.
Evaluate the play of light: the natural mineral tourmaline has birefringence and strong pleochroism.
Rub it with your finger: natural tourmaline is electrified, and it is immediately felt. Heat the sample in your hands and bring the cut paper to it: if it attracts, the stone is real.

A bit of history about the tourmaline stone

It is not known when exactly tourmaline was discovered — the magical properties of the gem were already known in ancient Rome, but it is unlikely that the Latins were the first to know about the stone. The mineral was also used in Russia, but in Western Europe, it was not appreciated until the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries.

In the 16th century, Dutch sailors brought gems similar to emeralds and rubies from the island of Ceylon (Sri Lanka). This was tourmaline — “a stone that attracts ash” in translation from the language of the aborigines. The mineral was appreciated — since then it has never gone out of fashion in Europe.

The history knows the most various products with tourmaline. The fate of one of the — “Caesar’s Ruby” is interesting. According to legend, the amazing crystal was presented to the great commander by Cleopatra. In the eighteenth century, it was owned by Gustav VIII, King of Sweden, who then presented the jewel to Catherine the Great.

A gem, similar to a bunch of grapes, for centuries was considered precisely a ruby, as can be seen from its name. Only in the Soviet era scientists carried out its spectral analysis. The precious corundum turned out to be a Burmese tourmaline. Now it is kept in the Diamond Fund of the Russian Federation along with another famous stone of the same type that belonged to Anna Ioannovna. This crystal became famous for its record weight — more than five hundred carats.

Physical and chemical properties of tourmaline stone

The tourmaline formula is based on boron and aluminum silicate. The main color of the crystal is given by impurities, of which there can be a lot. There are more than a dozen varieties of stone, each with its unique composition.

Hardness on the Mohs scale — from 7 to 7.5 points out of 10. Density — 3.26 grams per cubic centimeter. The stone shines brightly. Jewelry samples are transparent, industrial minerals are cloudy.

The colors of the mineral are so diverse that until the invention of spectral analysis, some varieties were not considered tourmaline. Also, the gem is notable for its pleochroism. This means that the color of the stone can change depending on the light or temperature.