Tourmaline buyer’s guide

Rubellite and the other colors

Rubellite should be a pink to red tourmaline, not a garnet and not a ruby. Ruby is harder and denser. If we have a rubellite category, that is the door for that color. A green or watermelon stone is a different comparison.

Copper-bearing blue-green tourmaline, the material people call Paraiba, is a separate price world. We will not use that word for an ordinary blue tourmaline.

Turn the stone

Tourmaline can be deep in one direction and pale in another. The cutter’s job is to put the richer color through the table. Look at side photos. A stone that is only dark because it is thick may window or go black in normal light.

Ceylon produces tourmaline. Origin is still a fact about the item, not a decoration on the species.

Questions

Is rubellite a ruby?

No. Rubellite is tourmaline. Ruby is corundum. A refractometer separates them quickly, and so should the species name.

Is tourmaline hard enough for a ring?

Usually, if the setting protects it. It can be brittle along the length of the crystal. A thin stone or a heavy inclusion is a reason to choose a pendant instead.