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Tourmaline is a very exotic gemstone that comes in a fantastic array of colors including blue, red, yellow, pink and honey. Some of these stones have a bit of a rainbow flash to them or a subtle multi-coloring. Some varieties are dark chocolate brown thanks to its high iron content and it is known as a schorl. There is even a special type of turmaline known as an achroite that is colorless like quartz. Many of the most prized of tourmalines display two colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel such as purple and green.

A pink and green tourmaline is called “a watermelon.” An African tourmaline that is both a vivid green and blue is called a “neon” tourmaline. If the crystal is clear and just black at both ends, it is referred to as a 'Mohrenkopf'”.

The reason that there are so many different colors of tourmaline is because the gemstone itself is quite complex. It is a mixed crystal that consists mostly of aluminum boron silicate that is found naturally in hunks, spidery thin needles and elongated ringed column. Tourmalines were so good at masquerading as other gemstones that ancient jewel dealers referred to them as tumali, which means “mixed gemstones of unproven identities.”

They are particularly suited to jewelry designs that have an individual or unusual flair as not one of these stones is ever very much like the other. Many of the jewelry designs for tourmalines accommodate the individuality of the stone. For instance a piece of Turk’s turquoise, which is red at one end and black at the other may make a good crystal point set in silver or gold. A piece of watermelon turmaline looks great sliced as a coin for a pendant or a brooch.
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