Birthstone — October
Planet — Pink for Sun, Green for Mercury, Cat’s eye for Ketu
ABOUT
Tourmaline measures 7 to 7.5 on Moh’s Scale of hardness. Tourmalines come in multiple shades of blue, green, pink, black, yellow, colorless and brown. Tourmalines are also found in Cat’s eye cabochons. One of the most unique shades of tourmaline is the watermelon tourmaline; the gemstone is literally half pink and half green. If cut in slides, the stone has a pink centre surrounded by green.
COMPOSITION
The variety of shades in tourmaline is found due to its mineral deposits. Iron rich tourmalines are shades of black. While magnesium rich tourmalines range from brown to yellow, lithium rich tourmalines come in all possible colors: blue, green red, yellow, pink etc. Tourmalines can be bi-colored or multi-colored but are mostly transparent and light in shade.
SOURCE
Mining of tourmaline takes place all over the world. In Africa, copper colored tourmaline comes from Nigeria, green from Tanzania, red and yellow from Zamibia. In Brazil, Minas Gerais produces green, pink, purplish red while Bahia produces all colors, Rio Grande produces watermelon and brownish yellow tourmalines. Nuristan produces both green and blue. California in the U.S produces minty green and bi-color tourmalines while Maine specializes in raspberry pink.
Crown of Princess Ivanovna
FAME
The iconic “Steamboat Tourmaline” is a multi-colored stone now at the Smithsonian Museum along with the 376.85ct bi colored tourmaline carved in the shape of a woman’s face by O.Hansen, using the colors as part of the design.The “Hamlin Necklace”, the “Crown of Princess Ivanovna” from 1730 featuring a giant 500 carat red tourmaline, the “Lily Safra Brooch” and lastly the “Paraiba Star of the Ocean Jewels” featured in the Guiness Book of World Record are some unique and famous tourmaline jewellery.