All colors of tourmaline on jewelry second-hand

History of tourmaline

Tourmaline, a stone from the silicate family, was brought back to Europe in 1703 by the Dutch, when they returned from a trip to Sri Lanka.
Tourmaline will be called as such following this trip, its Sinhalese name coming from “turamali” which means “Stone of many colors”. The colors are varied, they can be, pink, red, yellow, brown, green, blue, colorless, purple, black, there are many shades of colors. For the record, the Dutch called it “ash stone” and the French “the Ceylon magnet” because its piezoelectric properties mean that it charges with electricity under pressure or heat. But it is definitely for its color varieties that it owes its success in jewelry.

Colors and varieties of tourmaline

Depending on their color, the stones take various names:
-   Achroite: Colorless or almost colorless
-   Rubellite: Pink to red, with a purple undertone.
-   Dravite: Yellow brown to dark brown.
-   Verdelite: All shades of green.
-   Indigolite or indicolite: Shades of blue.
-   Siberite: Lilac pink to purplish blue.
-   Schörl: Black.

We must mention Paraiba tourmaline, of an extraordinary lagoon blue, the most sought after and the rarest. Tourmalines of this color, due to their high copper content, initially came from the Paraiba mine in Brazil, a mine which is now exhausted. This name now also applies to copper tourmalines with this incredible color, in Mozambique and Nigéria. Dior Joaillerie, for example, presented sumptuous pieces with this gem.
We can also cite “watermelon” tourmalines (red/pink heart surrounded by green), as well as certain “cat’s eye” tourmalines.
 
It is found in the four corners of the globe, from Brazil to Russia via Sri Lanka and even Europe (Italy and Switzerland). Deposits are also notably present in Afghanistan, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nigéria, Pakistan, Tanzania, Zimbabwe. 

Tourmaline in jewelry second-hand

Many jewelry houses appreciate the color palette of tourmalines. You will find our selection of rings Pomellato second-hand with tourmalines, jewelry Boucheron second-hand decorated with tourmalines, but we particularly put the spotlight on Bvlgari and its taste for “tutti frutti”. Here, for example, is one of the jewelry Bulgari second-hand  with multiple colors which include, among other things, tourmalines.