When it comes to tourmaline, many people think of bracelets that are coiled in the hands of elders. In fact, natural tourmaline is not a Chinese-style exclusive jewelry, it is not only a long history, extremely high value, but also is a high-grade gemstone loved by many big jewelry brands. Tourmaline is also the birthstone of October, which has a beautiful meaning of bringing luck.
Strictly speaking, tourmaline is not one of the four precious stones (diamonds, red sapphires, emeralds), but tourmaline has been the most popular among all colored treasures in recent years. Tourmaline can be seen in the auction collection market or in the works of jewelry big names.
At sotheby's Spring Auction in Hong Kong in 2011, a Qing Dynasty pink tourmaline bead sold for HK$1.22 million, setting a tourmaline auction record at the time, with an estimated price of 8 times the price, and in the following decade tourmaline has repeatedly broken records in the auction market.
Pink tourmaline towards the beads
Sotheby's Hong Kong was sold in 2011
Realized price: HK$1,220,000
Paraíba tourmaline with diamond pendant earrings
Two pear-shaped Paraíba tourmalines weigh 7.46 and 6.81 carats, respectively
In 2018, Christie's In Hong Kong sold
Realized price: HK$21,700,000
Almost all the big jewelry brands, including Bulgari and Cartier, have launched high-pearl works with tourmaline as the protagonist in recent years, allowing jewelry lovers to see the gorgeous and colorful charm of tourmaline.
Cartier SURNATUREL watches
Blue tourmaline
Bvlgari Colour Journey necklace
Paraíba tourmaline is used
Boucheron Animaux Fine Jewelry Collection
Adopt green tourmaline
A royal jewel with a variety of charms
Tourmaline, also known as tourmaline and Tourmaline in English, is derived from the ancient Sinhalese (Ceylon) word Turmali, meaning "mixed gemstone". Legend has it that around 1500, a Portuguese exploration team found a gemstone in Brazil that actually shone with colorful neon, and this "rainbow that fell into the world" was later named tourmaline, and Brazil is also the main source of tourmaline.
Until 1768 AD, the famous Swedish scientist Linnes discovered that tourmaline also has piezoelectric and thermoelectric properties, which is the origin of the name tourmaline, until today, tourmaline is often used in science to determine the intensity of luminescence and pressure changes.
Tourmaline crystals belong to complex borosilicate minerals, of which iron, magnesium, lithium, manganese, aluminum and other metal ions can replace each other, the different content of each ion, will directly affect the color and type of tourmaline color and type. Therefore, the color of tourmaline is the most abundant among all kinds of gemstones, and the ever-changing colors also make tourmaline the most popular gemstone in the creation of jewelry craftsmen, and it is welcomed by the aristocratic royal family in both the East and the West.
From left to right:
Red tourmaline, brown tourmaline, green tourmaline,
Yellow tourmaline (first line)
Olive tourmaline, colorless tourmaline, chrome green tourmaline,
Paraíba tourmaline (line 2)
Watermelon tourmaline, blue tourmaline, black tourmaline,
Mixed tourmaline (third line)
The earliest Chinese document to record tourmaline is the Qing Dynasty classic "Shi Ya", which has different names for different colors of tourmaline crystals, and only the title of tourmaline has been used to this day.
According to historical records, Empress Dowager Cixi of the Qing Dynasty was very fond of tourmaline, and among her martyrs, there was a pillow made of lotus flowers and watermelon tourmaline carved from tourmaline, which was worth 750,000 taels of silver at that time, but unfortunately this cultural relic has been stolen and its whereabouts are still unknown.
Tourmaline can be said to be no less popular among the Qing dynasty aristocrats than today's "big-name hits", and nearly one-third of the high-priced antique tourmalines sold in the auction market in the past 10 years are from the Qing Dynasty.
Tourmaline pendant of the three friends of the han dynasty (late Qing Dynasty)
Realized price: HK$775,000
With a variety of colors, tourmaline has always been one of the favorite color treasures of the Western royal family, and many highly representative heavy jewelry have used tourmaline.
The former Royal Family of Italy retained a set of fine jewelry made of rubellite tourmaline, with The Savoy Tourmaline Tiara crowned with 7 striking rubellites. French actress Clotilde Courau wore the crown when she married Italian Crown Prince Emanuele Filiberto.
The Norwegian royal family has a crown called Modern Gold Tiara, which is very uniquely designed, and the center stone in the middle can be removed and replaced, and one of the center stones used for replacement is the green tourmaline.
We are familiar with the British Princess Kate, who also often wears a variety of tourmaline earrings from Kiki McDonough.
The most popular species of tourmaline
Tourmaline is complex in composition and complex in color. The international jewelry industry basically divides commercial varieties of tourmaline according to color, the more intense the color, the higher the value, and today mainly introduces the following varieties that are hot in the jewelry collection industry.
Paraíba tourmaline
Anyone who knows a little about fine jewelry must have heard the name Paraíba. It is the rarest known species of tourmaline, and it is also the type of tourmaline with the highest value in appearance and collection.
Paraíba is a type of blue tourmaline according to color, and in 1989 gem explorer Heitor Barbosa discovered an unusually bright lake blue crystal in the Brazilian state of Paraíba, which was the first appearance of Paraíba tourmaline, and since then this blue tourmaline like the clear waters of the Mediterranean Sea has been named after Paraíba.
Paraíba's most beautiful color comes from its high content of copper and manganese, but gemstones with high copper content tend to be darker and darker in color, and there are few calm sea blues such as Paraíba tourmaline.
Bvlgari Magnifica Fine Jewelry Collection
"Queen of the Mediterranean" necklace
It uses 5 Paraíba tourmalines, and the largest center stone weighs 153 carats
However, the Brazilian mine that was originally discovered in Paraíba was mined in just a few years, and jewelers later discovered copper-bearing tourmaline in Nigeria, Mozambique, East Africa, Madagascar and other places. Today, Paraíba tourmaline does not only come from Paraíba, Brazil, and LMHC (an organization that specializes in providing extensive and professional gem and gem optimization identification and diamond grading services for gemological laboratories around the world) defines it as a tourmaline containing copper and manganese, which can be called Paraíba tourmaline as long as the color, molecular elements and phase are up to standard.
Chopard Red Carpet's fine jewelry collection
Paraíba tourmaline ring with a center stone weighing 41.57 carats
The most important measure of the value of Paraíba tourmaline is the color, with the quiet and clear electric blue like the sea as the best, and most of the Paraíba tourmalines that achieve this quality are used as fine jewelry. Basically, the jewelry brands you can think of use Paraíba tourmaline to make high-bead items, after all, its appearance is too eye-catching, and the gem itself has investment collection value.
Harry Winston Fine Jewelry
One of a Kind Paraíba tourmaline necklace
Piaget Sunlight Escape Collection of Fine Jewelry
Paraíba tourmaline with emerald earrings
Paraíba tourmaline is like a seawater into a solid state, and the tranquil blue is also suitable for daily wear, which can set off the feminine intellectual elegance, so it is also loved by many stars. When Zhang Ziyi held a 100-day banquet for her daughter, she wore Tiffany's Paraíba tourmaline earrings.
Oscar actress Emily Blunt also wore a full set of Paraíba tourmaline jewelry from American jewelry brand Lorraine Schwartz when she attended the Golden Globes.
Rubellite tourmaline
Rubellite tourmaline includes red tone tourmalines such as pink, fuchsia, peach, crimson, rose red, etc., of which purple and rose red are the best. The darker rubellite tourmaline gives a sense of grace and luxury and is perfect for matching dresses.
Rihanna wore Chopard's rubellite necklace to the event with a tonal gown, and the center stone in this necklace is a 123-carat pear-cut rubellite tourmaline, which not only looks expensive, but also has the effect of modifying the shape of the face and emphasizing the curve of the neck.
Gong Li once wore a rubellite suit from the Earl Limelight Couture Precieuse fine jewelry series, although the center stone is not large, but the combination of red tourmaline and folding fan shape, both oriental classical charm and very atmospheric.
However, in recent years, fine jewelry has also made some attempts to be younger, and rubellite tourmaline, which is mainly strawberry red and pink, has become more and more popular. The Hortenisa hydrangea series jewelry design launched by Shangmei is smart and delicate, and it does not pick the age to wear, and the petal part of the flower petal chooses pink tourmaline.
Green tourmaline
Green tourmalines range from light green to dark green, yellow-green, or brown-green, some of which may be grayish or dark and can only be seen through light, and are usually more valuable in emerald green and intensely colored green tourmalines. There is an interesting episode about green tourmaline, as early as the 16th century, Spanish conquistadors found green tourmaline in Brazil, but it was mistaken for emerald at that time, until the 19th century scientists through technical means to identify the two as different minerals.
Emerald tourmaline gives a vibrant feel, and because it's like emerald, it's often used to create nature-themed or vintage-inspired fine jewelry.
Van Cleef & Arpels Fine Jewelry Collection
Varations Baia Verde necklace
Set with five 33.29 ct green tourmalines
Tiffany Masperpiece's fine jewelry collection bracelet
The center stone is a 45.55 ct green tourmaline
Watermelon tourmaline
The tourmaline introduced at the end is particularly favored by Chinese, and I believe that everyone has seen it in all kinds of Chinese jewelry. This tourmaline is actually a mixed-color tourmaline, and there are two or more colors on a crystal, or different up and down, or different inside and outside. If the middle infrared edge is green, it is called "watermelon tourmaline".
The mixed-color tourmaline represented by watermelon tourmaline has been very hot in recent years, not only Chinese like it, but also many foreign independent jewelry designers also like it. Natural mixed-color tourmaline is very rare, especially the red and green watermelon tourmaline gives a fresh and natural impression. However, in order to present a perfect color match, watermelon tourmaline usually can cut small crystals, so it is rarely used to make large pieces of fine jewelry, and more inclined to small and delicate daily jewelry.
Independent jewelry designer brand Irene Neuwirth
Watermelon tourmaline earrings
Independent jewelry brand Rerouvaí Gypsie
Mixed-color tourmaline, green tourmaline, watermelon tourmaline earrings
Delicate tourmaline that can also be worn daily
In fact, in addition to the large carat tourmaline that can only be seen in high pearls, many jewelry brands have launched small and delicate tourmaline jewelry. If you don't consider investing in collecting, these tourmalines that are suitable for daily wear are also a good choice, especially for friends born in October, often wearing birthday stones can also be lucky.
Previously, we introduced Gucci's latest Link to Love jewelry series, which is useful for tourmaline. Pink tourmaline and green tourmaline with a very modern minimalist design, wearing a young and fashionable hand, not at all old-fashioned, very suitable for stacking.
Gucci Link to Love jewelry collection
Pink tourmaline, green tourmaline
Tasaki's classic pearls are believed to be familiar to everyone, and in recent years, the brand has launched a new collection called M/G TASAKI with designer Melanie, emphasizing a simple sense of hierarchy, and a neutral design style is more suitable for modern women.
Among them, the combination of Baroque pearls and colored treasures is particularly brilliant, interesting and has a special attitude, and the pink ruby in the combination is pink tourmaline.
M/G TASAKI series
Baroque pearls, pink tourmalines, citrine, etc
Tourmaline materials can also be found on bulgari's two classic models, and the Serpenti series of snake rings decorate the eyes of the spirit snake with red tourmaline, which looks mysterious and sexy.
Bvlgari Serpenti series
18K rose gold, diamonds, rubellite tourmaline
Diva's Dream is more suitable for mature intellectual women, with a tourmaline center stone in the middle of the fan-shaped skeleton, the unique lines look more gentle, the green tourmaline is more refreshing, and the red tourmaline is more gorgeous.
Bvlgari Diva's Dream series
18K rose gold, rubellite tourmaline, green tourmaline
Piaget's Pieaget Rose collection is inspired by the classic rose element, and the combination of rose and rubellite tourmaline is particularly gentle and does not seem exaggerated when worn daily.
Piaget Rose series
18-carat white gold, diamonds, pink tourmaline
Because the color is like a rainbow that falls into the world,
Tourmaline is also known in the West as the Wish Stone.
If you already have a tourmaline jewelry,
Wear yours more in October.
You were born in October
Do you already own a tourmaline jewelry?
What do you know about tourmaline jewelry?
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Text / EVA
Figure / Brand,
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Edit / CARL
New Media Executive / JESSICA
Editor-in-Charge / LENNY