Black Tourmaline, known as ’Schorl’, is the most common of all Tourmaline species. The name ’Schorl’ comes from the name of a village in Saxony, Germany where the mineral was mine extensively during the 16th century. It most often forms as an accessory mineral along with other minerals like granite, pegmatite and gneiss rock formations. Tourmaline is not a single mineral species, but rather a group of closely related minerals.  Tourmaline grows in the hexagonal crystal system and often forms as elongated prismatic crystals with striations parallel to the crystal growth. Tourmalines are strongly pyroelectric, and piezoelectric. This means that the crystals develop an electric charge when heated or under stress.

Well-developed Black Tourmaline crystals are almost exclusively found in granite pegmatites. The crystals are often prismatic shapes but also form as stubby triangular crystals with pyramidal terminations. High quality crystals have lustrous texture  and are generally heavily striated. It is one of the most popular black minerals, especially in its natural crystal form. Black Tourmaline can be found in many localities around the world but some of the most exceptional specimens come from the Erongo region of Namibia, the Antananarvilo province of Madagascar and gem-rich areas of the Himalayan Mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The family of closely related mineral species called Tourmaline is the most dynamic of all gemstones. From solid black crystals like Schorl, to incredibly transparent crystals, Tourmaline literally forms in every color shade one could imagine. Not only does it dynamically form in every possible color shade, it also often forms in bicolor, tricolor crystals as well in mosaic crystal patterns which are best exhibited after slicing the crystals into cross-section plates.  This dynamic gemstone family has a long legacy throughout many ancient cultures, and because of its myriad of color shades, it has also been confused with other gems in the past. Stunning Green Tourmalines were mistakenly identified as Emerald, Rubellite Pink Tourmalines were thought to be Rubies, and the list goes on. The modern name for the mineral group Tourmaline, comes from the Sinhalese words ‘tura’ and ‘mali’, meaning stone of many colors.

According to the ancient Egyptians Tourmaline passed through a rainbow on its journey from the sun, taking on all the colors of the rainbow before finding its resting place deep within the earth.

For many centuries, the piezoelectric properties of Tourmaline was well recognized. In the 1700’s Dutch sailors were the first tradesmen to bring Tourmalines to Europe’s shores from Sri Lanka and the called the stone ‘Aschetrekker’, meaning ‘ash pullers. The electric polarization within Tourmaline crystals made them a perfect tool to pull the ash from their tobacco pipes when cleaning them. Tourmaline rose to popularity in China, due to the last empress Tzu Hsi love of the stone. She had a huge collection of fine jewelry made with Tourmaline gemstones.

It wasn’t until the late 20th century that Tourmaline began to see a huge rise in popularity within the gem world. New discoveries of Rubellite, Green Tourmaline and Indicolite specimens in Brazil led to a new found obsession with this dynamic gem family. Later, important deposits of Tourmaline were discovered in Namibia, Madagascar and older localities such as those in Maine and California found larger demand in the market place. Today, Tourmaline is incredibly popular and the value of quality gemstones continues to rise.