Tourmaline has a long and colourful history, with the ancient Egyptians believing its wide variety of colours resulted from travelling along the rainbow, capturing all the different shades as it went. It has also been thought of as the gemstone of friendship and everlasting love. Antique and vintage jewellery featuring tourmaline is the perfect choice for any occasion!
The gemstone tourmaline comes in a vast spectrum of vibrant colours, in fact, they have one of the widest colour ranges of any gemstone! Some tourmalines can even feature multiple colours in one crystal, a true wonder of nature!
As a result of their incredible range of colours, it is extraordinarily difficult to perfectly match tourmalines, as each and every natural gemstone has a slight variation in tone, saturation and hue. The very word 'tourmaline' reflects this, deriving from the Sinhalese word 'toramalli', meaning 'mixed gems'.
Historically, tourmalines have been confused with both emeralds and rubies. The first tourmaline, discovered in 1554, was known as the 'Brazilian emerald', and red tourmalines can, confusingly, be known as rubellite! Remarkably, 'Caesar's Ruby', a 255.75 carat 'ruby' set atop the Russian crown jewels was discovered to be a rubellite in 1922.
Here at Berganza, we have a wonderful collection of natural tourmalines set within unique pieces of antique and vintage jewellery. Their vibrant colours make them stunning centrepieces to awe inspiring jewels. To find your very own tantalising tourmaline visit Berganza!
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