Plum Tourmaline 6mm Round - 15-16 InchTourmaline is classified as a semiprecious stone and occurs in a vast array of colors, everything from colorless to black, from pastel to bright to dark. It can even exhibit various colors within the same specimen. Its name derives from the Sinhalese word turamali, which translates to stone of many colors. Due to this variety of colors, Tourmaline has often been confused with other stones. Many stones in the Russian crown jewels from the 17th century

creating a unique "marbled" look

Specialists soak the stones in resin or liquid plastic to help harden them

The Ruby inclusions in this stone are pink to reddish purple to dark purple

These include annite

chrysocolla

the fossilized resin of prehistoric pine trees

Astrophyllite gets its name from the Greek words astron meaning "star" and phyllon meaning "leaf"

giving some rubies a slightly brownish or purplish tint

any color of the rainbow

which occurs in many colors

and the material has not been treated with dye

the treated stones are cut