Tourmaline 碧玺 / 电气石

xyzphoto 宝玉石介绍 Gemstone Introduction

Deposit sites: Brazil, Afghanistan, Burma, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Pakistan, Tanzania, Russia,

Sri Lanka, India, U.S.A.

Variety/Species: Tourmaline

Hardness: 7 – 7.5

Zodiacal sign: Capricorn, Scorpio, Libra.

Color scheme: Virtually all colors, black, green, yellowish brown to dark brown, blue, pink, transparent.

Gemstone of the month: October, 8th Wedding Anniversary.

Tourmaline signifies a group of minerals of similar composition found in a variety of colors. When rubbed, tourmaline quickly develops a relatively large charge of electricity. Transparent tourmaline acquires the greatest charge.

Tourmaline has been recognized as a distinct gemstone only since the early 1700’s. Before that time it was confused with other gemstones.

In recent years tourmaline has been used for a number of industrial applications, especially the optical industry. During World War II the mineral was used to measure the pressure created by an atomic explosion.