7 New Tourmaline Jewels That Epitomize The Gem’s Chameleon-Like Appeal

By Victoria Gomelsky | October 18, 2021

With one of the widest color ranges of any gem, tourmalines are the colored-stone equivalent of chameleons. (The name is derived from the Sinhalese word toramalli, which means “mixed gems.” “It’s a term Dutch merchants applied to the multicolored, water-worn pebbles that miners found in the gem gravels of Ceylon, now Sri Lanka,” according to the GIA).

From the slightly brownish, orangey-yellow tourmaline found in the Merelani region of Tanzania to the legendary Windex blue–colored paraiba tourmaline associated with both the Brazilian state of Paraíba and Mozambique, the many varieties of this expansive gem family make tourmaline a crowd-pleaser.

And never more so than in October, when it shares the birthstone spotlight with opal.

Although it lacks opal’s play of color, tourmaline often appears in parti-colored specimens that display more than one color (think watermelon tourmaline, which is pink in the center and green on the outside), giving designers plenty of inspiration.

“I really love the complexity of color in a good tourmaline,” says Harwell Godfrey designer Lauren Harwell Godfrey, a recent convert to the gem. “I had some green tourmaline with so many tones in it. Everything from teal to evergreen to green apple all in one stone. There’s something magical about that.”

Amen! Above and below are seven stunning new styles featuring virtually every shade of this standout gem. Sure, October is almost over, but these pieces are guaranteed to be perennial favorites.