Schorl

The most common species of tourmaline is schorl, the sodium iron endmember of the group. It may account for 95% or more of all tourmaline in nature.

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The early history of the mineral shows that the name “schorl” was in use prior to 1400 because a village known today as Zschorlau in Saxony, Germany was then named “Schorl” or minor variants of this name, and the village had a nearby tin mine where, in addition to cassiterite, black tourmaline was found.

The first description of the stone with the name “schürl” and its occurrence, various tin mines in the Saxony Ore Mountains, was written by Johannes Mathesius (1504–1565) in 1562 under the title “Sarepta oder Bergpostill”. Up to about 1600, additional names used in the German language were “Schurel”, “Schörle”, and “Schurl”. Beginning in the 18th century, the name Schörl was mainly used in the German-speaking area.

In English, the names shorl and shirl were used in the 18th century. In the 19th century the names common schorl, schörl, schorl and iron tourmaline were the English words used for this mineral.

Tourmaline stone

Tourmaline is a crystalline boron silicate mineral. Some trace elements are aluminium, iron, also magnesium, sodium, lithium, or potassium. The classification is semi-precious gemstone. it comes in a wide variety of colors.

Etymology

According to the Madras Tamil Lexicon, the name comes from the Sinhalese word “thoramalli”, a group of gemstones found in Sri Lanka. According to the same source, the Tamil “tuvara-malli” comes from the Sinhalese root word. This etymology also comes from other standard dictionaries including the Oxford English Dictionary.

In some tourmaline gems, especially pink to red colored stones, heat treatment can improve their color. Careful heat treatment can lighten the color of dark red stones. Irradiation with gamma-rays or electron can increase the pink color in manganese-containing near-colorless to pale pink stone . Irradiation is almost undetectable in tourmalines, and does not, currently, impact the value.

We can improve the quality of certain tourmalines, such as rubellite and Brazilian paraiba, especially when the stones contains a lot of inclusions. Through a laboratory certificate. A tourmaline that has undergone a lightening treatment, especially the Paraiba variety, will be worth much less than an identical natural stone.

Sample from Mogok, Myanmar

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