Tourmaline

Tourmaline is a crystalline silicate mineral group in which boron compounded with elements such as aluminium, iron, magnesium, sodium, lithium, or potassium.

In 1703, Dutch sailors first brought into Europe elongated crystals of purple-pink color. Following the inhabitants of Ceylon, they called these rocks «turemali» that are meaning is mineral, jewel. Thus arose the modern term tourmaline.

This gemstone features a large variety of colors. Ruby-red stones called rubellite, purple-red stones found in the Urals – siberite. Verdelite is green tourmaline, indigolite – blue. Yellowish-brown stones on the deposit Drava in Austria called dravite. Rare colorless crystals called ahroite. A very common black variety calls schorl.