Home >> Hobbies >> Gemology

What Is Pink Tourmaline?

Tourmaline is a mineral used in the gem business that subdivides into several species which are in turn subdivided into varieties. It was originally brought from Sri Lanka to Europe by the Dutch East India Trading Co. The subspecies of tourmaline are schorl, dravite and elbaite. This last species elbaite, also known as lithium tourmaline due to its lithium content, is the species under which pink tourmaline, one of the rarest tourmaline varieties, is classified.

History
- Elbaite's lithum content was first officially determined in 1818, on Elba Island, in Italy. It is this island where elbaite gets its name, proposed in 1914. Fifty-eight years later, the first crystal structure analysis was done on a pink tourmaline.
Composition and Formation
- Tourmaline as a mineral group is classified as an aluminum borosilicate mineral. The chemical composition of the subspecies elbaite is Na(Li1.5Al1.5)Al6(BO3)3[Si6O18](OH)3(OH). The chemical composition of pink tourmaline is Na(Mg,Fe,Mn,Li,Al)3Al6(BO3)Si6O18(OH,F)4.
  Elbaite grows in a variety of conditions and often in association with other minerals. The conditions elbaite grows in include granite pegmatites, hydrothermal replacement deposits and in schist.
Features
- Pink tourmaline ranges from a light pink to a vivid rose or red color, and sometimes red-violet color. Of these colors, the intense red range is the most valuable. Inclusions are common with pink tourmaline more than other types of tourmaline. The hardness of gems is rated using the Mohs scale, a scale of relative harness rating on which diamond receives a 10. On this scale, tourmaline receives a 7 to 7.5.
Considerations
- In the gem business it is common practice to give a tourmaline a name by using its color and the word tourmaline together. Sometimes though, a variety gets its own specific name, as with vivid reddish shades pink tourmaline, which also goes by the name rubellite. For a pink tourmaline to be called rubellite, it must remain the same color in both natural and artificial light. Pink tourmalines that do not qualify as rubellite show a brown tint in artificial light.
Misconceptions
- Heat treatment to improve color is common with pink tourmaline. Light pink tourmalines' color deepens when treated with heat.
Sources
- Pink tourmaline can be found all over the world. In the Middle East, it can be found in Afghanistan and Pakistan; in Asia, it can be found in Sri Lanka, Burma and in the Ural Mountains in Russia; in the Pacific, it can be found in Australia; in South America, it can be found in Brazil; in North America, it has been found in California; and in Africa, it can be found in Nigeria, Namibia, Mozambique and Madagascar.

Gemology