Tourmaline is a unique beautiful semi-precious mineral made out of a variety of elements which include aluminum, iron, magnesium, sodium, potassium and lithium. This multi-colored mineral has various uses. It also comes in a wide spectrum or colors including black, blue, blue-green, green-yellow, brownish yellow, pink and red rose. The many uses of Tourmaline follows.
Jewelry Making
This semi-precious gemstone is highly valued for its unique multi-colored nature. It is impossible to find any two tourmaline gems that are identical. The variations in the mineral composition contribute to the drastic differences in the color of tourmaline. There are some tourmaline minerals that are bi-colored or multi-colored, making it a very unique semi-precious mineral ideal for making jewelry. Tourmaline is used in making of rings, bracelets, pendants and necklaces; the uncut tourmaline can be worn as a chunky jewelry for a more natural look.
Tourmaline has an interesting property of electricity conduction when heated. It is piezoelectric and is capable of holding an electric charge once heated and allowed to cool. This reaction is attributed to the cleaning methods of the Dutch who used it to clean up ashes from the interior of tobacco pipes.
Because of the ability for Tourmaline to conduct electricity, it is also used in hair straighteners and blow dryers. Once heated, the tourmaline produces negative ions that aid in frizz reduction and will protect the hair from being damaged by heat. Infrared heat production will allow the hair to reach a higher heat level, without damaging the hair too much. Crushed tourmaline added too hairdryers helps in the emission of more ions than any other mineral and is extremely light in weight.
Tourmaline is also used as a polarizing device. When two slices of tourmaline are cut right the right way along certain axes or lines then light can be blocked if one piece of the tourmaline is held in front of the other. For this reason, many people use tourmaline tongs for polarizing purposes.
Due to its ability to conduct electricity, tourmaline is useful in devices used for measuring pressure as well as monitoring changes in the pressure. It is used in gauges used to detect temporary pressures produced during blasts and devices for depth sounding.
Tourmaline is found in all parts of the world. People in the past used tourmaline for various purposes, but today tourmaline is mainly used for jewelry and various forms of technology as mentioned above.
