I Want Candy: Tourmaline in Every Flavor

By Brittany Siminitz | October 23, 2024

Opal typically gets the most attention during October, it being the month’s premier birthstone. But tourmaline, also a birthstone for October, is its own special kind of magic, with different types in a variety of eye-popping colors you just don’t see in other gems.

Paraiba, for example, is a blue-green so electric, it’d be difficult to confuse with anything else. Rubellite, a variety of tourmaline that might be taken for a ruby or garnet by the untrained eye, often showcases a thirst-quenchingly juicy hue that’s simply irresistible, even for those keen on cooler colors.

There’s also chrome tourmaline (calling all lovers of green!) as well as indicolite (for those fans of cool hues), and don’t even get me started on the bicolor and tricolor types of tourmaline (Mother Nature is a wizard!).

Tourmaline is ever-present at gem and jewelry shows, its popularity only seeming to rise as the years pass. Consumers have tended to veer more toward the blues and greens, though there’s been talk of a growing demand for the warmer stones—pink, orange, yellowish-browns. The latter feels fitting for this time of year, mimicking the changing of the leaves and the warmth we crave as the temperatures drop.

In any color, tourmaline is a gem for those serious about gems—and about fun. If opal satisfies our desire for magic and mystery this time of year, tourmaline soothes our sweet tooth, like a (high-quality) candy with a sugar rush that lasts and lasts.