Tourmaline with multiple colors
Tourmalines come in many different colors. Color combinations are also common, with the combination of green and pink being particularly widespread. Tourmaline rough stones with these two colors are often sliced. This reveals a red center with a green edge, similar to a watermelon. This is where the name of this two-tone tourmaline comes from. Watermelon tourmaline belongs to the elbaite group. The color spectrum of tourmalines is often compared to a rainbow. Tourmalines are divided into several subgroups. The most popular – and most valuable – is the elbaite. Elbaite owes its name to its place of origin, the Italian island of Elba. In addition to watermelon tourmaline, these include verdelite (green), indigolite (deep blue), paraiba (bright light blue) and rubellite (red).
The most valuable are paraiba tourmalines, followed by rubellites, indigolites, verdelites and watermelon tourmalines.
Origin & mining sites
Tourmaline is mined in many countries worldwide. However, watermelon tourmaline has so far only been found in a few places in Brazil, Madagascar and the USA. The mined tourmalines do not always have gemstone quality. Thanks to the wide variety of materials, their price fluctuates almost as much as the color.
Watermelon tourmaline for individual jewelry
If you buy a watermelon tourmaline in the IGNEOUS gemstone shop, you can have it made into an individual piece of jewelry. These stones are particularly popular for pendants. However, examples repeatedly show that this gemstone also looks good on rings. Depending on your preference, it can be set in silver, white or yellow gold.
According to the American Gem Society, tourmaline is the birthstone for October and the stone for 5th wedding anniversary. With watermelon tourmaline, you don't have to choose between the colors green and red.
Characteristics: hardness, inclusions and treatment
Small inclusions are quite possible in tourmalines. The interplay of the colors green and red occurs naturally and is not achieved by treatment.
Tourmalines have a hardness of 7 to 7.5 on the Mohs scale and are therefore relatively hard minerals. The hardness scale according to Carl Friedrich Mohs has ten levels. The softest mineral is talc (hardness of 1 on the scale), the hardest is the diamond (hardness of 10).
Most common cuts
Watermelon tourmaline is often sliced. These are then further processed into pieces of jewelry. In this case, the shape depends on the rough stone, but it usually resembles a triangle. Alternatively, tourmalines are cut into narrow octagonal stones that are red on one side and green on the other. Free forms without straight lines are also possible.
