What is the rarest color of tourmaline?

The rarest and most expensive tourmaline is the paraiba variety -- a neon-like blue or green that is colored by traces of copper. It was first discovered in the Brazilian state of Paraiba in 1989.

What tourmaline is most valuable?

Tourmaline Prices

The most expensive variety of Tourmaline – the beautiful, rare Paraiba Tourmaline can fetch $10,000 per carat and upwards depending on size and color saturation whilst smaller yellows may only command $50 per carat. The spectrum of prices is as wide as the color range in this amazing gem type.

What is the best color of tourmaline?

Bright, pure tones of red, blue and green are generally the most valued, but the electric vivid green to blue shades of copper-bearing tourmaline are so exceptional that they are in a class by themselves.

Is green tourmaline rare?

They are rare and much sought-after. Green tourmalines are very popular as precious stones among women, but many men like wearing them too.

Is purple tourmaline rare?

Most colors are fairly common, but pure blue, red, orange, yellow, and purple stones are rare. Such stones usually command higher prices.

Learn All About Tourmaline - A Guide To Tourmaline's Many Colors

Is tourmaline more expensive than emerald?

Emerald is, carat-for-carat, much more expensive than tourmaline when both are of the same grade. What is this? And the truth is that lower grade tourmaline is most often sold as specimens to collectors, while even opaque emerald is usually cut to increase its value.

How many colors of tourmaline are there?

They can be green, blue, or yellow, pink to red, colorless or color-zoned. Even slight changes in the composition can cause completely different colors.

Is watermelon tourmaline real?

Genuine Watermelon Tourmaline is one of the most rare and collectible gems, and despite looking as if it can't possibly be a real gem, it is 100% natural.

How can you tell real tourmaline?

For example, a piece of genuine tourmaline may have a pale pink section, a vivid green section, and a lustrous yellow section all in a single neat row. Tourmaline's many colors remain separated, for the most part, and rarely mingle the way they do in iridescent minerals like ammolite, opal, or pyrite.

Are pink tourmalines valuable?

The colour range of tourmaline stones, in general, is quite wide, as are the prices attached to them. Bo-colour or tri-colour stones that display two or more colours, such as brownish-pink, are popular amongst collectors and sell for anywhere between US $300 to $600 per carat.

Is tourmaline a precious gem?

A tourmaline is a semi-precious gemstone that comes in more colors and color combination than any other gemstone, staying true to its name, which comes from the Sinhalese word “turmali,” meaning “mixed.” Due to the wide range of colors, tourmalines are often mistaken for many other gemstones.

What is purple tourmaline called?

Siberite - Occasionally used to describe purple Tourmaline. Verdelite - Occasionally used to describe green Tourmaline.

What is blue tourmaline called?

Indicolite, also known as Blue Tourmaline, is a very rare complex magnesium iron boro-aluminium silicate hydroxide mineral. This Tourmaline variety gets its color from tiny iron impurities and has only a few known localities throughout the world. Brazil, Nigeria, and Afghanistan have the most important active deposits.

Is red tourmaline valuable?

Its color can vary from red to violet to pale and dramatic pink. Its name comes from the Latin word “rubellus” which means reddish. It is the most prized and expensive member of the tourmaline family because of its beauty and rarity.

How much is a tourmaline worth?

Most expensive are the Paraíba tourmalines, which may reach tens of thousands of dollars per carat. Chrome tourmalines, rubellites and fine indicolites and bi-colors may sell for as much as $1000/ct. or more. Other varieties are available for prices between $50–750/ct., depending on the richness of the color.

Can black tourmaline have green?

Tourmaline is a semi-precious stone that comes in a wide range of colors. It is a mineral classed as crystalline boron silicate and has a vitreous luster. Tourmaline has an opaque transparency and is part of the hexagonal crystal system. It comes in colors of black, pink, green, purple, rainbow, watermelon, and others.

Is black tourmaline real?

Black tourmaline is actually the most common type of tourmaline found and makes up around 95% of all naturally occurring tourmaline. This means people can purchase the crystal at an affordable cost as it is seen to be a plentiful and therefore not highly valuable stone.

Which is better black tourmaline or black obsidian?

Black Tourmaline transmutes negative energies and doesn't need to be cleaned, unlike black obsidian. Tourmaline acts as an enhancer so it's grounding energy, although powerful, isn't so heavy energy-wise. Obsidian is another powerful dark stone.

Is my pink tourmaline real?

Observe your pink tourmaline under a bright artificial light. Genuine tourmalines change color under artificial light, displaying a brownish undertone. If your stone is billed as a pink tourmaline and it does not display this undertone when exposed to artificial light, then you are likely looking at a fake gemstone.

What is Paraiba tourmaline?

Paraiba tourmaline is a type of tourmaline, a semi-precious gemstone, that was first discovered in Paraiba, Brazil (where it receives its name, as you could probably guess). Only recently discovered, in the 1980s, these stones often have a blue-green hue, with intense coloration derived from their. copper content.

Why is Paraiba tourmaline so expensive?

The rarity of Paraiba Tourmalines - Paraiba Tourmalines are rare because they have, thus far, only been found in copper rich areas such as Brazil, Nigeria and Mozambique. Paraiba tourmalines from Brazil are among the rarest gems in the world.

What does watermelon tourmaline look like?

What does watermelon tourmaline look like? As the name suggests, watermelon tourmaline displays banded colours that resemble a ripe slice of watermelon. The red or pink centre is surrounded by a rim of green, often separated by a sliver of pale pink or white.

What are some rare elements found in tourmaline?

Most gem tourmalines are elbaites, which are rich in sodium, lithium, aluminum, and sometimes—but very rarely—copper. They occur in granite-containing pegmatites, which are rare igneous rocks. Pegmatites are sometimes rich in exotic elements that are important for the formation of certain gem minerals.

What is green tourmaline called?

Green tourmaline is also known as verdilite. Green Tourmaline is a unique miracle of color. Often two or more colors are found in a single tourmaline crystal making a bi-color tourmaline. Also rare are tourmaline gems which appear to change their color and cat's eye green tourmalines.

Where is tourmaline most commonly found?

Localities. Gem and specimen tourmaline is mined chiefly in Brazil and many parts of Africa, including Tanzania, Nigeria, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Malawi, and Namibia.