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History and Lore
There
is an old story which states that tourmaline got its colours
while coming from the core of the earth getting all the
colours of its path. Whatever the reason, this gem shows
more variations in color than almost any other stone in the
world. The most beautiful tourmaline stones are those that
show more than one color in a single gem.
Quality, Value and availability
Color is a major factor in determining the price of
tourmaline. Stones that exhibit unusual and attractive
colours and colour combinations are valued more highly than
more common stones. Be sure to study tourmaline under
different types of light and from many different angles to
be sure that you're getting a stone that you love.
Tourmaline also exhibits a characteristic called dichroism,
appearing to be different colors when viewed under different
conditions. For many stones, the 'different conditions' is
the difference in color under natural and incandescent
light. While that's true of tourmaline, tourmaline also
displays completely different colors when viewed from
different angles.
Sources
Most
stones are mined in Brazil, Sri Lanka and Southwest Africa,
but there are important deposits of tourmaline on most
continents. There's also as wide a range of quality
variations as there is of color variations, making it nearly
impossible to give a standard price range for tourmaline
gems.
Care and Cleaning
At
7.5 on the Mohs hardness scale, Tourmaline is easy to care
for. It's hard enough to make good jewelry, but doesn't
display the cleavage that many harder stones have, making
them less susceptible to breakage and splitting. Still,
there are some cautions and some advice for care.
Tourmaline jewelry can be cleaned with a mild solution of
dishwashing detergent and water at home. Soak the stone for
ten to twenty minutes, then scrub gently but firmly with a
soft toothbrush. Dry carefully before storing.
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