You’ll be able to tell right away whether your specimen is prismatic as opposed to, say, banded, fibrous, geodic, or stalactitic. [2] X Research source
A typical tourmaline gem will look something like a pencil, with a long, narrow, 6-sided shaft. They may even taper to a slight point on one end. Just don’t bother searching for an eraser!
Striations are created by the intense conditions of geological processes like hydrothermal activity, which is the most common source of tourmaline.
Tourmaline’s many colors remain separated, for the most part, and rarely mingle the way they do in iridescent minerals like ammolite, opal, or pyrite.
Tourmaline is an extremely hard mineral that rates between 7 and 7. 5 on the Mohs Hardness Scale, a testing system used to measure the hardness of minerals. By comparison, steel-bladed knives only have a hardness rating of around 5-6. [8] X Research source It’s important to use a knife made from solid steel. If the blade is molded from a weaker type of metal, it could be susceptible to scratching even by minerals with a lower hardness rating.
There’s a relatively small number of reputable gemstone testing laboratories in the United States, so it may be necessary to send in your specimen for examination. Most jewelry stores also keep at least one gemstone appraiser on staff. One of these professionals may be willing to take a look at your mystery stone for a price. [10] X Research source Retaining the services of an expert is the only surefire way to find out what a particular mineral is. You can only gather so much on your own.
Since it’s so abundant, schorl isn’t considered particularly valuable, and is not ordinarily cut as a gem or used for jewelry. [12] X Research source
Most varieties of dravite will shine with a golden yellow aura when exposed to bright UV light.
To make things even more complicated, uvite and dravite have been known to develop as separate parts of the same crystal. If your specimen has any amount of green, blue, or purple to it, it’s more likely to be uvite than dravite.
Though not seen as frequently, there are also black, white, brown, yellow, orange, purple, and colorless varieties of elbaite. Subcategories of elbaite receive their names based on their color—verdelite, for example, are green, while indicolite are blue and rubellite are red. [16] X Trustworthy Source Gemological Institute of America Nonprofit institute responsible for gemological research and education and setting gemstone buying and selling standards Go to source When most gem enthusiasts think of tourmaline, they picture elbaite.
Paraiba is instantly recognizable by its small size, smooth, rounded shape, and stunning visual quality, which is characterized by an electric aquamarine glow. [18] X Research source It’s unlikely that you have a piece of paraiba tourmaline on your hands, but if you do, consider yourself lucky. It’s not unusual for the mineral to sell for as much as $10,000 per carat at auction![19] X Trustworthy Source Gemological Institute of America Nonprofit institute responsible for gemological research and education and setting gemstone buying and selling standards Go to source
