How do you know if tourmaline is real?
Tourmaline – a gemstone that forms crystals of different shapes and colors. Belongs to a subgroup of minerals from the group of boron-containing aluminosilicates. The name of the mineral comes from the Sinhalese word “tura mali”, which means “stone with mixed colors”. It was under this name that the mineral was brought from Ceylon to Holland. The color of tourmalines depends on its chemical composition. Some tourmaline crystals have multiple zones of different colors; Such crystals are called “polychrome”. Depending on the color and transparency, some varieties of tourmaline are classified as precious stones, while others are classified as ornamental stones. In nature, tourmaline is found in green and crimson colors, less often yellow and blue. The most highly prized varieties are the transparent green, blue and crimson-red varieties, as well as the polychrome green-red ones. How and where is it formed The origin is endogenous, high temperature. Pegmatite, metamorphic, hydrothermal-metasomatic. Most tourmaline deposits are associated with acidic igneous rocks and are common in many granites and granitoids, where they are formed in the last stage of cooling of intrusions. Characteristic of various granite pegmatites (scherl, indigolite, polychrome tourmalines). They are found in pneumatolithic-hydrothermal deposits, in feldspathic-quartz, tourmaline-quartz veins together with cassiterite, wolframite, beryl, and topaz. 
Physicochemical characteristicsShine – glass Color – ppink, red, orange-brown, green, blue, red-violet, colorless, black, polychrome Transparency – transparent to opaque Hardness – 7-7,5 on the Mohs scale Density – 3,02 – 3,26 g/cm3 Kink – uneven, small-shelled, fragile Varieties Tourmaline is the most beautiful among stones! It is distinguished by a wide variety of colors, while stones of different shades have their own names:
- Schorl (africite) – black tourmaline.
- Verdelite – dark green.
- Indicolite – Navy blue.
- Dravit – brown, dark brown to brown-yellow. The impurity is magnesium.
- Elbaite — colorless, contains lithium
- Rubellite – dark pink to violet-red or red.
- Achroite – colorless.
- Chrome tourmaline – bright green, containing chromium.
- Polychrome tourmaline, with a zonal distribution of color.
Place of Birth
Tourmalines are widespread and abundant. The most famous are in Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Brazil (Minas Gerais, Bahia), Mozambique (polychrome and red tourmalines), Burma, Angola, Australia, India, South Africa, Canada (Ontario), USA (California) , Maine, Colorado), Europe (Elba Island, Switzerland), Russia (Urals, Transbaikalia). In the Urals (Lipovka, Murzinka, Sarapulka, Shaitanka, Yuzhakovaya).
Jewelry tourmaline is known in Afghanistan (Nuristan): in the deposits of Darae-Pich, Kanokan, Jabo, Chormax, Kantiva, Mandanesha, Tsotsum, Mualevi, Papru.
Application and Use
When cutting, tourmaline is often given the shape of an elongated rectangle, due to its elongated and narrow crystal structure. Tourmaline crystals are delightful, thin and pencil-sharp, and are very often used as an element of jewelry. Some designers also create a tourmaline rainbow where every color in the spectrum is present.
Tourmaline is used not only as a jewelry stone. It is used in science and technology due to its pyro- and piezoelectric properties. Currently, they have learned to produce tourmalines artificially, but synthetic tourmalines are not of great importance.
How to distinguish real from fake
— As in many other cases, when determining the naturalness of a stone, it is worth remembering the hardness of tourmaline. Natural tourmaline has a hardness of 7 – 7,5 on the Mohs scale. This means that natural tourmaline will not be scratched as easily as artificial tourmaline – i.e. ordinary glass;
— When choosing tourmaline, remember such a feature of this stone as its ability to electrify. Simply rub the stone with your finger. If the tourmaline is natural, you will feel electrified. Accordingly, artificial tourmaline will not be electrified.
— One of the most valuable tourmalines is polychrome tourmaline. Its cost is not as low as it seems, so fraudsters often counterfeit it. You can identify tourmaline by looking closely at the stone and the transition of its colors. Firstly, this transition should be smooth, i.e. have a mixed color on the border of the stone colors. Secondly, there should not be the slightest trace of cleavage or interlayers at the border of the flowers. The transition from one color to another should look natural, organic;
— Tourmaline is a transparent stone and quite pure in its structure. This means that natural tourmaline extremely rarely contains any inclusions. This must be taken into account if doubt arises as to whether the stone is made of plastic;
— The color range in which tourmalines are found in nature is large. For this reason, it is often confused with other precious stones. These are, as a rule, topazes, emeralds, sapphires, rubies, and garnets. But since the cost of these stones is quite high, there is no point in jewelry sellers letting you confuse tourmaline with any other precious stone.
— Another tip that is worth considering when choosing tourmaline is that large crystals of this stone are not uncommon in nature, so if you come across such minerals in jewelry, do not be alarmed – this is not a sign that tourmaline is not natural.
Medicinal properties
In folk medicine, there is an opinion that tourmaline has a positive effect on the endocrine system. The healing effect of this mineral depends on the color. Green stones help with liver diseases. Blue tourmalines relieve nervous tension, alleviate the effects of stressful situations, improve sleep, relieve insomnia and nightmares. Black stones, according to some traditional healers, are a good preventative against colds. Blue tourmalines improve vision and relieve headaches. Modern lithotherapists believe that this stone improves immunity and gives a person a feeling of joy and peace. Tourmaline improves memory, relieves dizziness, cleanses blood vessels, and charges the plasma. Running water can remove excess charge from the stone. In order to charge, you need to hold it in the sun for a while.
Magical properties
According to ancient beliefs, tourmaline is a symbol of love, passion and creativity. This mineral conveyed energy and strength to man for spiritual quests and creation. Monks seeking solitude to find the meaning of life often took tourmaline with them. In the silence of their cells, they contemplated the reflections of the stone in the light of the candle, feeling complete calm and tranquility, which is so necessary for a person to concentrate and deepen into himself. Tourmaline gives a person inspiration, emotional uplift, mood and desire to move forward.
Tourmalines have a beneficial effect on the body and mind, eliminating fears and anxieties. Tourmalines help with meditation, concentration, and clarity of mind. Talisman of love and victory, hope, unfading youth and strength. Stones are amulets against the evil eye, damage, harmful entities and people. They protect artistic natures from fruitless wanderings and give recognition and the power to carry out plans.
It is believed that any tourmaline helps maintain wealth in the home. The owner of tourmaline is lucky in his personal life. It strengthens love and friendship for many years to come. This stone enhances masculine strength and gives the male owner the power to attract and please women and to be happy in love. The stone strengthens marriage and gives spouses mutual understanding. The owner of such a stone feels confidence, security, peace, and therefore the desire to create and create everything new and unusual.
Pink tourmaline – keeper of love. It relieves suffering and fears.
Raspberry tourmaline considered a talisman for artists, it gives creative strength and brings recognition.
Green absorbs everything and cools passions. The stone creates a feeling of peace and security, helps to believe in one’s own strength. It is capable of awakening creative forces and inducing a cheerful mood. It can only be worn by people over 35 years of age.
Variegated Tourmaline – half green, half red – a stone of creative and erotic impulses, preserves youth and strength in a person.
Pendant with blue tourmaline will help you fall asleep peacefully.
Black Tourmaline – Schorl is considered the stone of witches, warlocks or widows.
The most magical – red tourmaline, bringing happiness and success in love to men, increasing their energy and strengthening potency.
Talismans and amulets
Tourmaline is a talisman of writers, artists, musicians, poets, magicians and witches. For example, black tourmaline is a talisman for witches, and red stone is a talisman for artists. The talisman helps its owner to awaken creative forces and feeds him with cosmic energy.
A tourmaline amulet helps its owner to concentrate on the main thing and significantly improves mental abilities. An amulet made of red stone helps a person find hope, protect against fears and unjustified anxiety.
Electromagnetic properties
Tourmaline is a natural healing resource.
Research shows that tourmaline is the only crystal among all minerals existing on earth that has an electric field. Without requiring any additional conditions or human assistance, after absorbing solar energy, an electric charge appears on the surface of tourmaline.
The negative ions, microcurrents and infrared rays released by tourmaline are very useful for improving human health and the environment. Infrared rays help expand capillaries, stimulate blood circulation, activate cells, accelerate the metabolic process and increase the body’s resistance, stabilize the nervous system and normalize blood pressure.
The negative ions released by tourmaline quickly improve air quality, stimulate cellular metabolism, increase cell vitality, calm the nerves, eliminate fatigue, and normalize appetite. In addition, negative ions have the effect of sterilizing, disinfecting and purifying the air.
Along with this, tourmaline protects a person from the harmful effects of electromagnetic radiation and exposure to geopathogenic zones. And therefore, tourmaline can significantly improve human health at the cellular, molecular levels and strengthen the functions of the immune system.
Thus, tourmaline is a rare healing resource gifted by nature.
Additional Information
Energy – projective Yang (red and pink tourmalines), receptive Yin (green, blue and black)
Element – Water, Air, Fire
Horoscope — Leo, Capricorn, Sagittarius
Effect on chakras – depends on the color of the stone
Planets – depends on the color of the stone
Connection with names – Arkady, Eduard, Sofia, Yulia
History and legends
The best representative of tourmaline is considered to be the “Jolly Green Giant”, which is kept in the State Museum of Natural History in New York.
The most famous rubellite is kept in the Diamond Fund of Russia – the so-called “Caesar Ruby”, also known as the “Big Ruby” or “Red Stone”. This vibrant pinkish-crimson tourmaline is shaped like a bunch of grapes. Stone size – 4×2,7×2,3cm; weight – 255,75 carats. Empress Catherine II received it as a gift from the Swedish King Gustav III in 1777. At that time, Sweden, like many other European countries, dreamed of getting closer to Russia, and the gift of the “Big Ruby” was the key to a future long and strong friendship.
Very few gemstones have such an amazing, rich history as the “common” Caesar Ruby tourmaline. According to ancient legend, this stone was born of a Chaldean demon. Therefore, he endowed his owner with the ability to penetrate into the very essence of things and even see through walls.
Caesar received this stone as a gift from Cleopatra. However, the amulet did not protect the ruler of Rome from the betrayal of Brutus.
The Caesar’s Ruby then ended up in the hands of Charlemagne, helping him create a huge empire in Western Europe. Later he was captured by the Templars and from them came to the Jesuits. After the terrible “Night of Bartholomew” they presented the “Big Ruby” to the King of France, Charles IX.
After his death, the widow presented the “Caesar’s Ruby” to her brother, the Bohemian king Rudolf II, known for his passion for alchemy. This ruler of the Czech Republic was an ardent supporter of the occult sciences. His life’s dream was to create the philosopher’s stone. Finally, in 1648, the “Red Stone” was captured as a trophy by the Swedes, who were at war with Bohemia at that time.
For many centuries, this stone was mistaken either for a ruby or for a spinel. Until at the beginning of the 20th century, academician Alexander Evgenievich Fersman established that the famous “Caesar’s Ruby” was Burmese rubellite processed by Indian jewelers.
Another famous example of confusion with tourmaline rubies is the large rubellite that serves as a stand for the diamond cross on the crown of Queen Anna Ioannovna. The weight of this tourmaline is approximately 500 carats or 100g. According to historical documents, this unique stone was bought in Beijing in 1676 by the translator of the Ambassadorial Prikaz, Nikolai Spafariy.
In 1724, Peter I introduced the rite of coronation instead of the rite of crowning the kingdom that had previously existed in Rus’. For the first time, a Chinese “ruby” was used to decorate the crown made for the coronation of Catherine I. And later, in 1730, the stone was moved to the crown of Anna Ioannovna.
Rubellites, along with other precious stones, adorn the wedding crowns of the Russian Tsars Ivan Alekseevich and Mikhail Romanov, made in the 645th century. Since that time, red tourmalines have often been used to decorate church regalia. Kept in the Armory Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin, the tabernacle from the sacristy of the Annunciation Cathedral is decorated with a large pink rubellite weighing XNUMX carats.
And after the discovery of tourmaline deposits in the Urals, they were often used in jewelry, as well as for making figurines, snuff boxes and other decorations. Bunches of berries cut from rubellites were used to decorate vases and boxes.
Best regards, Katerina (Napoleonka)
Heating and irradiation are the most common ways to treat tourmaline to improve its color. Both of these methods are performed after the stones have been cut and polished and are undetectable when examined with a gemological microscope.
Heat treatment can lighten the unwanted tone in some parts and give some brownish stones a brighter, more interesting color. The results of heat treatment are usually permanent. Stones with liquid inclusions are not good candidates for heat treatment because heating such stones causes them to break down.
rice. Faceted tourmaline (left) and heated tourmaline for deeper color (right)
rice. The Paraiba tourmaline (left) was heated to produce a more intense color; the tourmaline on the right cannot be heat treated because liquid inclusions inside
Synthetic tourmaline
Synthetic tourmaline has been created since at least 1991, but the first publication describing synthetic tourmaline found in the precious and jewelry market did not occur until 2008. These tourmalines were created through hydrothermal growth, and the specimens were nearly flawless. The origin of tourmaline can be distinguished by Raman spectroscopy, each sample exhibiting a Raman shift (the wavenumber of the spectrometer, the clearest sign of their synthetic origin, which distinguishes them from any natural tourmaline).
Tourmaline imitation
From time to time, imitations of tourmaline appear on sale. The popular watermelon tourmaline and other colored tourmalines are a common target for imitators. The resulting imitation stones often consist of a thin slab of colored glass or plastic glued between two pieces of colored glass.
Imitation can be easily determined using a microscope or magnifying glass. If you examine the stones along the belt, you can see the edge of the color plate or glue lines. Sometimes glue bubbles are visible even to the naked eye.
How to identify natural tourmaline.
First of all, pay attention to the price. Each color has a different price range depending on how rare the color of the stone is. Paraiba (Brazilian neon blue tourmaline) costs around $1000 per carat. Pink and red tourmaline costs about $500 per carat; green, yellow and light-colored tourmaline ranges between $60-$100 per carat.
Look at the stone with a good magnifying glass. Tourmalines almost always have inclusions because. it forms in a humid environment, and there may even be small bubbles of liquid inside. These “bubbles” are not perfectly round; glass fakes also have bubbles, but they are made of air and therefore perfectly round. If there are no inclusions inside, it is most likely not natural tourmaline. Also pay attention to the effect of pleochroism, inspect the stone from all sides, the color should change from different angles. Finally you can do the scratch test. A sharp needle can scratch glass or a plastic fake, but not tourmaline, it is a very hard stone and is not easy to scratch.
Testing in the laboratory.
There are also professional tests to determine the naturalness of tourmaline, the most common being the refractive index (RI) test and the specific gravity test (a unique way of measuring the density of a stone by immersion in a set of liquids). Tourmaline has a refractive index that matches many stones, so a density test is often required to rule out stones with a similar RI and allow tourmaline to be identified.
