Tourmaline Gem Stone: Every Color of the Rainbow
 Tourmaline gem stones have a colorful history. Tourmaline crystals are formed in long, column-shaped formations and eventually become tourmaline gem stones. An Egyptian legend believes that as the crystals grew up from the earth, they encountered a rainbow and attained every color of the rainbow, giving the tourmaline gem stone a spectacular array of beauty.
 In today’s era, the tourmaline gem stone is known as the gem stone of the rainbow. Tourmaline that contains an abundance of iron is more black or brown in color. Tourmaline gem stones that are brownish yellow have lots of magnesium. Any tourmaline gem stone that contains lithium could result in colors that include red, pink, yellow, blue, and green. On more rare occasions, the lithium-filled tourmaline is colorless. A tourmaline gem stone with two colors is known as bi colored tourmaline. If more than two colors are present, it is  multicolored tourmaline.
Tourmaline crystals are piezoelectric. When heated, the same crystal contains both a positive charge at one end and a negative charge at the other. Even when it is cut into smaller pieces, each piece still retains this unusual characteristic.
There are three different species of tourmaline: Dravite, Schorl, and Elbaite. Dravites are dark yellow to brown/black. Schorl, which is the most abundant (95% of all tourmaline found), appears bluish or brownish/black to black. Elbaite consists of rubellite, which is pink or light red in color, indicolite, which is dark blue, verdelite, the green ones, and achroite, which is colorless.
 Blue indicolite gems are the most expensive. The Paraiba tourmaline gem stone is the most recently discovered (1989) variety of the tourmalines. Discovered in the state of Paraiba, Brazil, its color is so true blue that sometimes it appears to be glowing. The Paraiba tourmaline gem stone has been priced at over $5,000 per carat. The other varieties of tourmaline gem stones have various price ranges. Green tourmaline gem stones are the next most expensive, followed by pink tourmaline, red (rubellite tourmaline), yellow (canary tourmaline), and then colorless, even though it is not as commonly found.
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 Tourmaline has been found in many other places, but the colors that are mined vary from place to place. As early as 1400 AD, Germany had schorl. In the 19th century schorl was renamed tourmaline. Most of the tourmaline found there was black in color. In 1822, the state of Maine in the United States began producing pinkish-red tourmaline gem stones, along with some that were green. Also in the United States, mines in California began producing bright pink and multicolored tourmaline around the late 1800’s to early 1900’s. Rich, green tourmaline, also known as chrome tourmaline, has been found in Tanzania. Other places where various colors of the tourmaline gem stone have been produced include Africa, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
One of the more unique styles of tourmaline gem stones is known as watermelon tourmaline. This occurs when a tourmaline gem stone’s cross section cut reveals green on the outside edges, along with a reddish, pink interior.
A tourmaline gem stone is believed by many to be helpful in reducing stress, increasing mental awareness, and improving circulation. Tourmaline gem stones are thought to also foster an environment of friendship and love.
 Tourmaline gem stones are durable, and therefore, are excellent for use in jewelry settings. Take care, however, when cleaning your tourmaline gem stone. If it is of a green, blue, pink, red, or purple color, avoid steam or ultrasonic cleaning. Also, with those colors, avoid sudden, drastic temperature changes.
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