Whatsapp
Among the October birthstone “tourmaline”, there is a beautiful red colour stone, known as “rubellite”. Rubellite is red because of its manganese element. Pigeon blood red and cranberry red are the most valuables. They have also been confused with ruby in the past.
The following will introduce in detail the origin, value, characteristics of this gemstone, and its representative meaning as a power stone.
Properties of Gems
| Name | Rubellite／Red Tourmaline |
|---|---|
| Chinese Name | 紅碧璽／紅電氣石 |
| Japanese Name | 紅電氣石 |
| Color | magenta, red, pink |
| Family (species, varieties) | Tourmaline, black tourmaline, magnesia tourmaline, chromite, magnesia tourmaline, magnesia tourmaline, magnesia tourmaline, magnesia tourmaline, iron tourmaline, mafite, Maruyama Tourmaline |
| Moh’s Hardness | 7-7.5 |
| Polish Lustre | Vitreous |
| Chemical Composition | Na (Li, Al)3Al6(BO3)3Si6O18(OH)4 |
| Crystallography | Trigonal |
| Birthstone | October ※Based on tourmaline |
The meaning of Gems
Broad-minded, chastity, and thoughtful
Symbol
Value chastity, thoughtfulness, and forgiveness
Country & Place of Origin
• Brazil: Minas Gerais
• Italy: Elba Island/Elba
• Myanmar: Mogok
• Nigeria: Ogbomosho
• Russia: Siberia, Ural
• Madagascar: Antananarivo
• Mozambique: the whole territory
• Afghanistan: the whole territory
• United States: the whole country
Features and characteristics
Rubellite is especially used to call Tourmaline, which has a beautiful red sodium lithium tourmaline (Elbaite). Therefore, “tourmaline” will be indicated on the evaluation. Crafted in pegmatite mines, the red tourmaline is rich in manganese, while the pink is called the pink tourmaline with trace manganese.
Origin of the name
The word rubellite (Rubellite) comes from the Latin word rubellite, it means “red” and the root of the word ruby, which belongs to the red tribe, also comes from it.
Is pink tourmaline rubellite?
Rubellite is also known as rhodolite due to the colour it presents. Often this name includes pink tourmaline with a similar shade. However, the mainstream commonly assumes that rubellite is only used to refer to the bright red species of tourmaline.” Except for dark magenta and other colours, pink tourmaline, like light pink, is generally not known to be rubellite.
Rubellite had once been mistaken for ruby
The elegance of Rubellite is not the same as that of rubies. Rubellite was mistaken for ruby in the age before modern identification methods were developed.
Collected by Russia’s Romanov royal family, weighing more than 260 carats, the “strawberry carving” was once considered the largest ruby in the world. This is an instance before it was proven by the former Soviet Union mineralogist Alexander Feisman in 1925. Strawberry carvings had been mistaken for rubies before rubellites.
Value
The value of rubellite is second only to Paraiba Tourmaline among tourmalines, and it ranks alongside the blue-blue tourmaline (Indigolite), both of which are precious gems.
Generally, facet cutting (※ 1) is frequently used, but the elegance of rubellite can also be brought out by egg noodle cutting (※ 2). ※1 “Facet cut” is a cutting method that shows the brilliance of gemstones by cutting multiple facets.
※2″Cabochon cut” is a technique used primarily for opaque gemstones to grind gemstones into a hemispherical shape. Furthermore, facet cutting will lose the cat’s eye effect and other characteristics, or egg surface cutting will also be used if the gem itself has several scars or inclusions.
Rubellite colour and quality
Rubellite almost includes several inclusions, but if it does not affect the transparency of the stone, it will be considered a feature of the gem. In addition, the more transparent and richer the red rubellite, the higher the value. Among them, iron is the cause that affects the colour, and the gems containing iron are reddish purple or brown. However, a high iron content will cause a dull colour, but it will depreciate. The colour of rubellite is sometimes compared to the colour of cranberry and sometimes, like the most advanced ruby, it is represented as pigeon blood.
Origin of rubellite
Rubellite was discovered in Brazil in the 19th century, and Brazil has been a major producer of rubellite since then.
Among them, Minas Gerais is renowned for having many high-quality mines.
About 1978, a pigeon-blooded high-grade rubellite of more than 200 kg was discovered in the Jonas mine. The Cruzeiro mine produces about 8 tonnes of tourmaline per year of which 20 percent is rubellite, making it one of the largest mines today. The Ouro Fino mine is exhausted, but the rubellite produced here has the best reputation.
On the other hand, African countries (Madagascar, Mozambique, Nigeria, and others have a well-known feature: most African rubellites are brown. Among them the rubellite produced in Madagascar has a lower content and high clarity, making it easier to find rubellite of superior quality.
Bleaching sand deposits (*3) around Obomosho, Nigeria, also generate highly transparent rubellite, which now accounts for almost the largest total output of African countries. As mentioned above, most of the mines in which rubellite is made are very transparent, but compared to other gems, there is less demand for the place of production to be branded with the name of the mine, so that most of the rubellite cut into gems only marks the country of production.
3 ‘Floating sand deposits’ refers to ore aggregates (deposits) formed over the years due to the transport of wind or water, the mixing and deposition of minerals and sand.
Rubellite as an energy stone
Rubellite is an energetic stone famous for instilling the beauty of appearance and connotation and for improving the expressiveness of love. It reflects the meaning: stone of love, hope, vitality.
It can not only help those who are looking for a partner to get a successful marriage, but it can also help couples and couples to warm up their feelings. In addition, rubellite tourmaline can also encourage the wearer to have a positive outlook and hope, which is also considered to help increase vitality and vitality.
