Green Tourmaline

About Green Tourmaline

Green tourmaline covers an enormous range. At the light end are the mints and seafoams — bright, cool, almost translucent stones that look wonderful in white metal. At the saturated end sits chrome tourmaline, colored by chromium and vanadium, which rivals fine emerald for intensity and is usually far cleaner.

That clarity is the practical argument for green tourmaline. Emerald is famously included and often fracture-filled; tourmaline of comparable color frequently comes eye-clean and needs no treatment at all. For a client who loves green but does not want the fragility and maintenance that comes with emerald, it is very often the better answer.

Green tourmaline is strongly pleochroic and can look considerably darker down the length of the crystal than across it, which is why so much green material is cut as long rectangles and bars. Orientation is the cutter’s main lever for keeping the color open and lively rather than closing down into black-green.

Why Sharon works with green tourmaline

Sharon uses green tourmaline constantly, both as a feature stone and as an accent against pearl, opal and drusy. She looks for stones that stay open in low light rather than the very darkest material, which can go inky under anything but direct sun.

Caring for green tourmaline

Warm water, mild soap and a soft brush. Skip the ultrasonic, particularly on stones with visible inclusions.

Common questions about green tourmaline