Introduction

Pink’s one of the most popular colours in gemstones, and no gemstone offers as many choices in pink as the Tourmaline. You can find every possible shade of pink in tourmaline, including unusual bi-colour and tri-colour pieces. Some fine pink gems, such as Kunzite and Morganite, are typically found in delicate shades of pink. In tourmaline you can find highly saturated pinks that range from the pink-red Rubellite to rose or carnation pink. Tourmaline has a good hardness level of 7 to 7.5 on the Mohs Scale.

Its name is also believed to be derived from ‘Tourmali’, which means ‘precious mixed-colour gem’ in Sinhalese. This gemstone becomes electrically charged when rubbed or warmed by heat. When charged, it can attract dust and small paper scraps. When Dutch traders discovered this property, they used warmed Tourmaline to draw out ashes from their pipes and named the stone ‘Aschentrekker’, which meant ‘ash puller’. The last Empress of the Chi’ing Dynasty of China was a huge admirer of the gemstone. After her death, her body was rested on a tourmaline pillow as a symbol of her eternal love for this gem.