Judging quality
Look for saturated color, transparency and a clean termination. Tourmaline is often heavily included; eye-clean rubellite over a few centimetres is expensive for good reason.
Tourmaline
Pink Tourmaline (Rubellite)
Lithium tourmaline in pink to raspberry red. Rubellite proper keeps its color under both daylight and artificial light, which is what separates it from lighter pink material.
Care
Durable but brittle. Avoid ultrasonic cleaning.
History & lore
The Himalaya Mine in San Diego County shipped tons of pink tourmaline to the Chinese imperial court under the Dowager Empress Cixi.
Cultural history, recorded as tradition rather than as medical or scientific claim.
Common questions about Pink Tourmaline (Rubellite)
- What is Pink Tourmaline (Rubellite)?
- Lithium tourmaline in pink to raspberry red. Rubellite proper keeps its color under both daylight and artificial light, which is what separates it from lighter pink material.
- How hard is Pink Tourmaline (Rubellite) and what is it made of?
- Pink Tourmaline (Rubellite) is a Tourmaline-family mineral with the composition Na(Li,Al)3Al6(BO3)3Si6O18(OH)4. It crystallizes in the trigonal system and rates 7-7.5 on the Mohs hardness scale. It occurs in pink, red, magenta.
- Where does Pink Tourmaline (Rubellite) come from?
- Notable localities for Pink Tourmaline (Rubellite) include Brazil, Madagascar, Nigeria, USA (California).
- How do you tell good Pink Tourmaline (Rubellite) from filler?
- Look for saturated color, transparency and a clean termination. Tourmaline is often heavily included; eye-clean rubellite over a few centimetres is expensive for good reason.
- How do you care for Pink Tourmaline (Rubellite)?
- Durable but brittle. Avoid ultrasonic cleaning.
See it in person
Photographs only go so far
Both rooms are open six days a week, and there is always someone happy to pull pieces out of the case so you can compare them under the light.