Tourmaline is one of the most colorful members of the gemstone family, sometimes with alternating colors in the same gem. The most common colors are pinks, reds and greens (rubellite and verdite) however blues (indicolite) and other shades are extremely popular. The red (rubellite) tourmalines are listed on a separate page. The bi and tri-color stones, also listed on a separate page, are sometimes known as watermelon tourmaline are more scarce and highly sought after for that "one of a kind" look. A recent new discovery in Africa has uncovered some beautiful copper bearing tourmaline including some Paraiba colors. We stock a variety of these colors. Tourmaline slices are displayed on a separate page. Tourmaline is a very good wearing stone with a hardness of 7 to 7.5 on the mohs scale. The refractive index is 1.62 to 1.68 and the crystal system is trigonal. The majority of our gemstones are mined in Brazil and Africa. Listed on the next two pages are more beautiful tourmaline gemstones with several hundred more in stock but not as yet listed.
