The mineral tourmaline is called “トルマリン” by the Chinese and “multicolor stone” by the Westerners. It is a very popular gemstone.
In ancient times, residents along the Mediterranean coast already knew about this magical gem. で 1703, the Dutch introduced tourmaline from Sri Lanka to Europe.
According to legend, on a very hot summer day in the 18th century, in a place in the Netherlands, a few children were taking the stones brought back by voyagers. They found that the two ends of these stones could be “charged” and attract or Repel light objects like dust, grass clippings, 等. したがって, later people also called tourmaline as “ash-absorbing stone”.
The chemical composition of tourmaline is complex, so far no synthetic products have been available.
The main producing areas of tourmaline include Brazil, Afghanistan, オーストラリア, ミャンマー, India, マダガスカル, モザンビーク, Namibia, パキスタン, ロシア, スリランカ, Tanzania and the United States.
The main types are: Achroite, which is very rare. The refractive index is 1.62~1.64, the birefringence index is 0.018, and the dichroism is not obvious and.
Red tourmaline (Rabellite) is pink to red, sometimes purplish red, among which red tourmaline is the most valuable. The refractive index is 1.62 に 1.64, the birefringence index is 0.018, and the dichroism is clear.
Blue Tourmaline (Indicolite) Blue or dark blue, if the color is too dark, heat treatment can be used to make it lighter. The refractive index is 1.62-1.64, the birefringence index is 0.018, and the dichroism is strong.
Multicolor tourmaline (Watermelon) 結晶, if viewed from a cross section, have a slightly triangular shape, with pink in the center and green at the edges. The pink “flesh” with green “skin” is like the cut and polished surface of a watermelon, so it is called “watermelon tourmaline”.
Green tourmaline (Verdelite) is also called “green stone”. Some experts classify tourmaline crystals according to their chemical composition and origin, such as lithium tourmaline (Elbaite), iron tourmaline (Schorl), manganese tourmaline (Tsilaisite), magnesia tourmaline (Uvite), calcium tourmaline (Liddiocoatite) and so on.
Other gemstones that are easily confused with tourmaline include amethyst, andalusite, rutile, stone, green spodumene, purple spodumene, pink beryl (モルガナイト), かんらん石, ルビー, エメラルド, トパーズ, talisman Mountain stone, zircon and glass imitation products, 等.