{"id":1154,"date":"2024-07-01T12:51:31","date_gmt":"2024-07-01T12:51:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.taraom.com\/articles\/tourmalines\/"},"modified":"2024-07-05T11:32:41","modified_gmt":"2024-07-05T11:32:41","slug":"tourmalines","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.taraom.com\/en\/articles\/tourmalines\/","title":{"rendered":"Tourmalines"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t
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Tourmaline<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Tourmaline is the most dynamic mineral family of all gemstones. From solid black crystals like Schorl, to incredibly clear crystals, tourmaline forms in literally every shade of color one can imagine.<\/p>\n

Not only does it form in every possible color shade, but it also often forms in bicolor and tricolor crystals, as well as mosaic crystal patterns that are best displayed after the crystals are cut into cross-section plates.<\/p>\n

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MYTHS AND HISTORY OF TOURMALINE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tourmaline has a long legacy in many ancient cultures and, due to its wide variety of color shades, has also been confused with other gemstones in the past: Stunning green tourmalines were mistakenly identified as emerald, pink rubellite tourmalines were thought to be They were rubies, and the list goes on. The name tourmaline comes from the ancient Sinhalese word “tourmali”, which means “stones of mixed colors.”<\/p>\n

According to the ancient Egyptians, tourmaline crossed a rainbow on its journey from the sun, taking on all the colors of the rainbow before finding its resting place deep in the earth.<\/p>\n

For many centuries, the piezoelectric properties of tourmaline were well recognized. In the 1700s, Dutch sailors were the first traders to bring tourmalines to the shores of Europe from Sri Lanka and called the stone “Aschetrekker”, meaning “ash removers”. The electrical polarization within the tourmaline crystals made them a perfect tool for removing ash from your tobacco pipes when cleaning them.<\/p>\n

Tourmaline has been highly prized throughout history, and its most recognized admirer was Tzu Hsi, the empress dowager of the Ch’ing Dynasty<\/strong>, who ruled China from 1860 to 1908<\/strong>. The stone was used as a notch, in pins of watch chains, or on the buttons of jackets of the Imperial Court and important people. <\/p>\n

Precisely during his reign, the first expeditions in search of gold took explorers to San Diego County, California, where they discovered pink tourmaline. Most of the pink tourmaline mined at the Stewart Mine was intended for the Empress and those around her; They bought everything the mine produced and exported it to China.<\/p>\n

A few decades later, in 1989,<\/strong> Brazilian miners discovered a never-before-seen tourmaline, the Para\u00edba, with very vivid blue tones. This rare stone owes its color to copper sulfate and a very small amount of gold, and commands extremely high prices.<\/p>\n

Gem quality stones were discovered in the early 19th century<\/strong> in<\/strong> the United States <\/strong> in the state of Maine, and on Mount Mica next to the city of Paris. In 1972, the neighboring Newry mine in the same region produced exceptional quality and for a short period became the world’s leading source of high quality tourmalines.<\/p>\n

It wasn’t until the late 20th century that tourmaline began to see a huge rise in popularity in the gem world. New discoveries of rubellite, green tourmaline and indicolite specimens in Brazil led to a new obsession with this gem family. Later, significant tourmaline deposits were discovered in Namibia, Madagascar and older localities such as those in Maine and California found greater market demand.<\/p>\n

The most important discovery of the eighties was made next to a small town of Sao Jos\u00e9 de Batalha in the state of Paraiba, with stones of a powerful electric blue.<\/p>\n

Today, tourmaline is incredibly popular and the value of quality gemstones continues to increase.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n