Tourmaline is one of the most unusual of all
gemstones. Unlike other gems, which we often identify
with a single color, tourmaline comes in every hue.
Often more than one color occurs in the same crystal.
Watermelon tourmaline, which is pale pink edged with
green, is the best known example of bi-colored
crystals. Although rarer, some tourmaline crystals
include three colors.
Its medley of color is not the only thing that
distinguishes tourmaline. It can polarize light, so
that the colors darken as the stone is rotated.
Tourmaline is also piezoelectric, which means that it
generates static electricity when rubbed or warmed.
The static charge is just enough to attract substances
like tiny paper fragments, dust, and ashes.
Tourmaline's ability to attract substances to it
led to one of its early names. Eighteenth-century
Dutchmen used the static electricity in tourmaline to
draw the ashes from their long-stemmed pipes. They gave
the name aschentrekker (ash drawer) to the gemstone.
Many people regard tourmaline as a modern stone,
as it isn't mentioned by name in antique documents.
Tourmaline did exist in ancient times, but it was
confused with other gemstones because of its stunning
colors. Green tourmaline was mistaken for emerald,
yellow for topaz, red for ruby, and so on. Its modern
name comes from the Sinhalese word tourmali, which
means mixed colors.
Later, the various colors were given individual
names. Green tourmaline has been called Brazilian
emerald and yellow-green was known as Ceylonese peridot
or chrysolite. Those names were misleading and are not
commonly used now. Tourmalines next received names
like siberite for violet, dravite for brown, and
indicolite for dark blue. One multi-colored species of
tourmaline was named elbaite, after the Isle of Elba,
where tourmaline was first found.
Gemologists and jewelers now prefer to use the
word tourmaline preceded by the appropriate color
designation.
Historians believe that the Chinese began using
tourmaline more than 2000 years ago. They carved
figurines from it, in addition to using it in their
jewelry. The last Empress of China is said to have
been especially fond of pink tourmaline and was laid to
rest on a pillow carved from it.
Tourmaline is a complex combination of minerals,
the predominate ones being aluminum, silica, and boron.
It can contain up to a dozen other minerals, each of
which produce a distinctive color. Manganese produces
pink stones, chromium turns it green, cobalt is
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