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Question for tourmaline experts

MelMc

Rough_Rock
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Jun 16, 2018
Messages
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I have a question for those more knowledgeable about tourmalines. When I hear about glow it's always in reference to blue-green colors. Do pinks ever glow? I recently inherited an old pink tourmaline ring (90+ years give or take). It's a pretty purpleish-pink but frequently I catch it lighting up like I have a pink LED on my hand. I don't see anything special in the cut that would be catching extra light, but I'm not great at discerning subtle differences. My best guess would be that it came from one of the mines in Maine as the family lived in the general area of the mines when it came into the family.
P1020376.JPG
 

Bron357

Ideal_Rock
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Jan 22, 2014
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Very lovely ring.
Yes Cuprian tourmalines exist in pink and purples as well as the well known blue/ green aka paraiba Tourmaline.
You need a lab report to confirm the presence of copper to qualify as being “Cuprian” If you want to know for sure.
The blue green Paraíba are so expensive because the “find” of them was very small so the numbers of gems extremely limited. They haven’t found another good source to date.
 

T L

Super_Ideal_Rock
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The term “glow” is usually reserved for the blue green variety of copper bearing tourmaline. It refers to a color so vivid, it looks neon or “glows” as if it was lit up. This phenomenon is best seen in person.

That being said, there are vivid hot pink colors of tourmaline (copper bearing or not), that are quite beautiful. I wouldn’t say they’re “glowy” though.

Copper bearing status has no bearing on value of a fine pink tourmaline. If a vendor has two pink tourmaline, and they’re identical in color, but one contains copper and the other doesn’t, he/she should not charge more for the copper bearing stone, as the copper has no affect on that color, as it does in blue green material.
 

MelMc

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jun 16, 2018
Messages
32
This is just curiosity on my part. It is the fact that this stone does frequently look lit from within that I find unusual. I've never seen a pink tourmaline act like that. If family legend is true and it's a Maine stone copper is unlikely as the copper mines are mainly on the opposite side of the state from the tourmaline mines. I wish I could catch the effect on camera because it's dramatic. Maybe the ring is haunted by it's first owner, that whole side of the family is pretty dramatic.:roll:
 

chrono

Super_Ideal_Rock
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I've seen several pink (non copper bearing) tourmaline so vivid that it appears to glow. It doesn't have that same glow as the best paraibas though.
 

T L

Super_Ideal_Rock
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if you’re thinking of a reddish or pink gem that glows, fine hot pink or red sapphire, ruby or spinel will “glow” in sunlight due to strong red fluorescence. They usually do not glow in low light levels though. The only stones I know that glow like they have an internal light source, are fine paraiba. They will even glow in low light levels or on a cloudy rainy day.

ETA: some emeralds glow as well.
 

T L

Super_Ideal_Rock
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It could be that there are fine inclusions in your tourmaline that make it glowy in certain lighting situations. That’s more a factor of light scattering.
 

T L

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Examples of glowy gems. 394B460A-0512-427E-8D5E-CE67F941FEAD.jpeg
Emerald glows in the same lighting situation as the other gems. That’s a vivid hot pink tourmaline on forefinger, but it doesn’t light up. My hot pink red spinel would though since it fluoresces

5EFC3175-5CA1-4630-8A29-CCF122E13242.jpeg

This is a relatively clean paraiba that glows all the time, except in a dark closet with no light, lol!
 
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T L

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Because of light scattering, that same hot pink tourmaline can glow when hit by direct sunlight, but it’s nothing like a fine paraiba. AF3AF71C-707D-43F4-A9F1-7B565D55A752.jpeg
 

MissyBeaucoup

Brilliant_Rock
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What lab report do you recommend for verify cuprian content in tourmaline? That doesn’t sound like a basic test.

Thanks for all the great glowy pictures!
 

Rad_Fan

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Sep 1, 2018
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3,173
Sorry for hijacking the thread. I have the same question on a this ruby. It was totally asking for attention when I walked by the case. The red was so POPPING and these iphone pictures "tamed" the tone a lot. Now I often wonder how it would look outdoor and away from the showroom lights. It might not be the best ruby but certainly was memorable to a newbie like me.
IMG_0200xs.jpg IMG_0201s.jpg
 
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