Know Your Stones: Tourmaline

Tourmaline is the birthstone for October and corresponds to the astrological sign of the Libra. Its name comes from a Sinhalese word, "tura mali", meaning "mixed colored stones". Although most commonly black, it can occur in a range of colors from brown, violet, green, pink, or in a dual-colored pink and green. Tourmaline is separated into several varieties, based on color. Perhaps you’ve seen or heard of Watermelon tourmaline? It literally looks like a slice of watermelon and is incredibly spectacular. Tourmalines were believed to be useful in relaxing the body and the mind, and to help in the treatment of many different diseases such as anxiety, blood poisoning, arthritis, and heart disease. This semi-precious gemstone has a hardness of 7 to 7.5 on the Mohs’ scale, and is mined primarily in Brazil, Africa, Afghanistan and the US.

"Tourmaline Dream" necklace, from my Etsy shop