Blue Tourmaline

True blue tourmalines are scarce indeed. Most blue stones contain a hint of green. “Paraiba” tourmalines are bright neon blue. They were first discovered in 1989 in the Brazilian state of Paraiba. They are also found in Namibia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria.

General Information
Scientifically, tourmalines are one of the more interesting minerals, due to their wide colour range. It is a boron silicate mineral containing colouring elements such as aluminium, iron, magnesium, sodium, lithium or potassium. Its name comes from the Sinhalese word “turmali” or “thoramalli”. Many crystals exhibit two or more colours; crystals displaying only one colour are rare. Because of this variety of colour, tourmaline can often be confused with other gems.

Most valuable of Indicolites show a dark or brilliant blue, similar to aquamarines or sapphires. A purely blue stone will emanate a high degree of brilliance.