Tourmaline Stone Buying Guide & Tourmaline Meaning (2024)

Less expensive

Often mistaken for sapphires, tourmaline offers the same array of colors at a much lower price than sapphires and other precious stones. So, if you're a color-loving queen on a budget, tourmaline may be for you. The one exception is the rare Paraíba tourmaline - these Brazilian stones can cost up to $10,000 per carat.

COLOR CHANGING

Tourmaline is a pleochroic gemstone, meaning it shows two or more colors when viewed from different angles. Depending on how it's cut, tourmalines can show multiple colors from the top view, or give off color surprises from different angles. Pure, nature-made magic.

Red tourmaline meaning: red tourmaline is the stone of passion and energy. The motivator, it helps inspire confidence and quell fearfulness. Red tourmalines are also known as Rubellite.

Purple tourmaline meaning: purple tourmaline is a super high-vibe stone, connecting us with our highest self and helping us to manifest our intentions into existence.

Blue tourmaline meaning: blue tourmaline is all about transparency and open, honest communication - it reminds us of the healing power of the truth. Blue tourmaline is also known as Indicolite.

Yellow tourmaline meaning: Yellow tourmaline helps transform negative emotions into positive feelings by increasing mental clarity and releasing stress and anxiety. Yellow tourmalines are also know as canary tourmaline.

Brown tourmaline meaning: brown tourmaline is an incredibly grounding stone, helping us feel strong and empowered in our physical body. Brown tourmaline is also know as Dravite.

Rainbow tourmaline meaning:containing multiple mixed colours, rainbow tourmalines are all about restoring balance to the body, mind, and spirit.

Watermelon tourmaline meaning:combining both pink and green tourmaline, watermelon tourmaline aligns us with love and compassion while filling us with vitality and strength.

How to choose a tourmaline - the 4 Cs

Tourmaline color

The most important of the tourmaline quality factors is color. Tourmaline and all colored gemstones are evaluated for color using 3 different attributes - hue, tone, and saturation. Let's start with hue:

Tourmaline Saturation

The most important factor when it comes to judging tourmaline color, saturation measures how rich and vivid the color is. The highest quality tourmaline are deeply saturated and vibrant, and less expensive tourmalines are more subdued, almost faded looking. The easiest way to envision saturation: think about a dress that starts off with a rich green color vs that same dress after 50 washes.

Tourmaline Tone

Tone measures how light or dark a gemstone is - think a light green vs a deep, dark green. Tourmalines comes in light, medium, and dark tones - medium toned tourmalines are usually the most aesthetic and in-demand tones.

Dichroism in tourmalines

Tourmalines are a 'pleochroic gemstone', meaning it can show different colors depending on the angle it's viewed from. One gem, multiple colors!

How lighting affects color

Some tourmalines will act like a mood ring under different lights - shifting depending on the lighting. Usually, red and pink tourmalines shine brighest under incandescent lights, whereas blue or green tourmalines show best in sunlight.

Tourmaline clarity

Clarity is a measure of imperfections or inclusions in a gemstone - these can look like cracks, bubble, others minerals inside, needles, and more. Read our Complete Guide to Diamond Inclusions for more on inclusion types.

The GIA categorizes gemstones into 3 types depending on their likelihood of containing inclusions:

• Type 1 gems rarely contain inclusions in nature

• Type 2 gems usually contain inclusions

• Type 3 gems are almost always included

• Clean your tourmaline jewelry with warm water, a mild dishsoap, and a soft bristle toothbrush. Clean both on top and beneath the stone to remove all dirt and debris and restore its sparkle and shine.

• Keep your tourmaline ring or jewelry away from harsh chemicals and avoid ultrasonic cleaners.

• Take your ring off before swimming in pools and hot tubs.

• Avoid extreme temperatures - tourmalines can react badly to extreme heat or cold (and especially rapid changes in temperature).

• Remove your tourmaline jewelry for any potentially damaging activities - any significant impact can cause damage to your gemstone.

If you're looking for a more durable gemstone, try sapphires which are rated a 9 on the Mohs hardness scale and also come in a vibrant rainbow of colors.

Tourmaline treatments

Many tourmaline are heat treated to improve the color and/or clarity of the stone. This is a routine treatment and doesn't affect the quality of the stone when done properly. Other treatments like irradiation and oiling can also be done but should be disclosed to the buyer.

Your tourmaline questions answered

How to tell if a tourmaline is fake or synthetic?

Tourmaline has never been successfully created in a lab, so most tourmaline you see is naturally mined from the Earth. Having said that, there are imitations floating around - these are made by sandwiching a thin piece of colored glass or plastic between two pieces of clear glass. To spot these faux stones, examine the stone through a jeweler's loupe - you'll see the edge of the colored glass/plastic along the girdle of the stone or bubbles between the layers where the glue would be.

Where to buy tourmaline jewelry

If you're a Gem Breakfast frequenter, you know we love a good tourmaline. Between one-of-a-kind tourmaline rings created by our roster of independent female designers and our custom and OOAK tourmaline rings and earrings created by our in-house line, Made by Gem Breakfast, there's a tourmaline treat for every appetite.

Thinking of treating yourself (or your amore) to a tourmaline ring? Browse our selection of one-of-a-kind gemstone rings or book a free consultation to chat about creating something custom. Keep in mind, there's no up-charge to creating custom, so if you see something you like on the site, we can usually recreate that recipe for around the same price.