A beginner’s guide to tourmaline ring

Tourmaline ring- Useful tips for buying the perfect rainbow color ring:

If you are looking for something different and you want to change the ruby, sapphire, diamond trend then choose a tourmaline ring. The unique properties of tourmaline make it even classier. Find the history, properties, and price of tourmaline stones to buy a pretty perfect tourmaline ring.

How can we define tourmaline?

Tourmaline is a family of crystalline boron stones consists of sodium, magnesium, lithium, iron, and potassium. If you love exciting colors then choose a tourmaline ring to quench your thirst for unique hue ranges. Moreover, in October people owes tourmaline birthstone. So just imagine your favorite color and you will see a tourmaline ring with that color.

What is the history and lore of tourmaline?

In the early days of the 1500s, a Spanish conquistador near brazil found a green color crystal. However, this crystal was first confused with green emeralds. Even now, people often confuse this beautiful stone with the mesmerizing emerald. In the 1800s scientists discovered that it belongs to different mineral species. Some people still find this gem a confusing thing because its name tourmaline that comes from"Tormali" which means "mixed gems".

The tourmaline stone hue ranges from bright emerald greens to morganite pink and deep sapphire blues. There is also a speculation that the stone Cleopatra wore was not emerald in fact it was tourmaline.

Tourmaline becomes the American gem in the late 1800s when tiffany gemmologist introduced it. Though tourmaline roots belong to America, China was the biggest marketplace for it. China becomes its biggest exporter at that time because Chinese Empress Tzu Hsi was a great fan of its color.

Tourmaline export was expanded in the early twenty century when Brazil produced large deposits of tourmaline. Then Afghanistan and Madagascar also started to produce fine quality red tourmalines in the early 1950s.

Why tourmaline is known as a rainbow-color stone?

Tourmaline is a rainbow color stone because it possesses a large range of colors. Whether it's coral pink, deep-sea blue, forest green, or baroque black you can find almost every color in tourmaline.

The most unique type of tourmaline is watermelon tourmaline. Because this watermelon tourmaline displays a pink color on the inside and green color on the outside.

Furthermore, the most expensive type of tourmaline is Paraiba tourmaline. This stone has a sparkly touch and vivid color display thus also known as neon tourmaline.

What are the special features of tourmaline?

Tourmaline is famous because of its color. However, the other notable feature is its electrical charged nature after heating. This feature does not affect the use of the stone but it is an interesting effect.

Now we will move towards the buying guide of tourmaline rings.

What to consider while buying a tourmaline ring?

Durability:

Tourmaline lies from 7 to 7.5 on Moh's scale of hardness. It is durable when you care for properly. Otherwise, your carelessness will lead to scratches on the stone. Choose a protective setting to save your tourmaline ring and enjoy the compliments from people.

Cost:

You cannot say that tourmaline is cheap or expensive because the price depends upon the intensity of color. The Paraiba tourmaline is the most expensive one. It is available for $10,000 per carat whereas you can buy sunny yellow tourmaline for just $50 per carat.

Weight of tourmaline:

Tourmaline gems are not available in a larger size. As tourmaline requires a hundred years to grow larger under the same heat and pressure. For instance, if you want red tourmaline it is available only in 5 carats. Thus different colors are available in different sizes.

Cut quality:

The quality of the cut is important while finding the perfect gemstone. You have to pay a few more bucks for a custom cut that will enhance the beauty of the stone. Though it is a relatively inexpensive stone you can pay some extra amount.

Cut shape:

Tourmaline is available in an elongated form. This means that elongated cuts, for instance, oval cuts, pear cuts emerald cuts, and cushion cuts go well with it. Furthermore, if you want a round cut of tourmaline you have to pay less.

Windowing:

When a stone receives a shallow cut a window will appear in it. This means that you can see through the stone from its middle.

If the window area is small this does not affect the quality of the stone, especially in Paraiba tourmaline. But if the window is large it will look unattractive and reduce the shiny glow of the stone.

Symmetry check:

Symmetry plays an important role in displaying the most of any stone. Therefore always check that a round should be round without bulges and a square shape should possess two axes of symmetry.

Proportions:

Proportion check is the first thing you should do after examining the cut. Look through the side of the stone is it too deep or too shallow? Then ask the jeweler about the length to width ratio. And decide your preference for elongated shape whether you want longer, skinny, shorter, or fatter stones.

Measurements:

Buy a setting first and then ask your jeweler to fit your stone in the setting. Or you can choose a pre-made setting and ask for standard cuts of stones.

Treatments:

Like many other stones, tourmaline also goes through the process of enhancement. Thus heat and irradiation treatments are the most common treatment for tourmaline. The heat treatment tries to disappear the undesirable tone and gives the stone a brighter touch. Likewise, irradiation helps to bright the saturation of light color gemstone.

A less proper way of treating tourmaline is by injecting oil and resin to increase the color and clarity. You have to take care a little more of your injection treated tourmaline. Whereas these enhancements fade away the color when exposed to light for a long time.

Settings:

Setting plays a big part in protecting the stone. The prong setting is highly anticipated for tourmaline as it allows maximum light to reflect on the stone, thus letting it glow more. However, if durability is your concern choose a bezel setting because a thin metal layer covers the stone and provides security.

Clarity:

Clarity is related to inclusions. The larger the inclusions the less is the durability. The green tourmalines should be inclusions free when viewed through naked eyes. However the pink, blue and other color tourmalines are full of imperfections. If the imperfections do not steal the beauty of stone then there is no impact on price. But try to stay away from bigger imperfection in the middle of the stone.

Transparency:

Transparency plays a huge role in deciding the price range of stone. An opaque quality stone is available at cheaper prices.

Imitations:

Imitation of tourmaline stone is easily detectable under a microscope. A thin layer of colored plastic is attached to two pieces of glass. The watermelon tourmaline is the main target of imitators.

Care:

If you got untreated tourmaline then you can ensure that it is moderately durable. However, it is not resistant to scratches so you have to be careful about it. Your untreated tourmaline does not lose its color and shine by heat and sunlight exposure. It is recommended to clean it with a soft cloth.

For caring, properly store it in a jewelry box or pouch. But make sure harder stones like diamonds are not present that could wear off the tourmaline ring.

Moreover, remove your ring before exposing your hands to household chemicals and chlorinated bleaches.

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