WholesaleTourmaline

The protection stone most shops reorder: black tourmaline rough and polished, plus green, pink and watermelon tourmaline.

Ways to shop

Shop tourmaline by form

Stone notes

Tourmaline: the stone of every colour

One crystal family, from the jet-black sticks in a protection bowl to pink and green gems with a watermelon slice inside.

Tourmaline is not one mineral but a family of closely related boron silicates. What they share is a shape. Tourmaline grows as long crystals with fine grooves running down their length and a rounded triangle when you look at the end. Snap a black stick in half and you can often see that outline.

The family's chemistry is flexible, so it comes in every colour. Iron-rich schorl is black and opaque, and it is the tourmaline most shops sell by the kilo. Lithium-rich elbaite gives pink, green, blue and the two-tone crystals called watermelon tourmaline, pink in the middle and green at the rim.

Tourmaline also has an electrical trick. Warm a crystal or squeeze it and its ends take on opposite electric charges. Dutch traders in the 1700s noticed that a warmed tourmaline would pull ash out of a pipe, and the stone was nicknamed the ash puller.

For a shop, black tourmaline is a staple. Raw chips, sticks and chunks are low in price and reorder steadily, polished towers and spheres sit at the top of the range, and the coloured tourmalines add jewellery and specimen pieces for collectors.

Black tourmaline sticks and pink-and-green watermelon slices are the same family of minerals.

About the stone

What is tourmaline?

Plus d'infos

Selon une ancienne légende, la tourmaline existe dans toutes les couleurs car elle a voyagé le long d'un arc-en-ciel et a rassemblé toutes les couleurs de l'arc-en-ciel. On pense que la tourmaline renforce le corps et l'esprit, en particulier le système nerveux, le sang et la lymphe. On pense également qu'elle inspire la créativité et qu'elle a été largement utilisée comme talisman par les artistes et les écrivains.

Propriétés physiques

La tourmaline existe en plusieurs couleurs, la plus courante étant le noir. Elle existe également en rose, en rouge, en bleu, en jaune, en marron, en vert, en orange et dans une combinaison de deux ou plusieurs de ces couleurs. C'est ce qu'on appelle la tourmaline arc-en-ciel. La tourmaline a une dureté Mohs de 7 à 7,5.

Propriétés métaphysiques

Portez ou méditez avec de la tourmaline pour augmenter l'inspiration, la compréhension, la confiance en soi et pour équilibrer les énergies de vos chakras. Elle est particulièrement associée au chakra de base et à la pierre du Lion et d'Ophiuchus. Elle aide à nettoyer, à maintenir et à stimuler chacun des centres énergétiques. Elle attire l'inspiration. Elle diminuera les peurs en apportant compréhension et en encourageant la confiance en soi.

Mineral: Tourmaline, a group of boron silicate minerals. Black tourmaline is schorl; pink, green and watermelon are mostly elbaite
Hardness: 7 to 7.5 on the Mohs scale
Colour: Every colour. Black is by far the most common; pink, green and two-colour watermelon crystals are rarer
Habit: Long, grooved (striated) crystals with a rounded triangle cross-section
Main sources: Brazil, Madagascar, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Namibia, Nigeria and the United States

Varieties

Kinds of tourmaline we stock

Black tourmaline does most of the selling, but the family is much wider.

Photos are real pieces from our stock. Tap a variety to see what is in stock now.

In crystal traditions

What tourmaline is traditionally used for

In crystal traditions black tourmaline is the best-known protection stone, placed by doors and windows and carried to stay grounded. Pink and watermelon tourmaline are linked with love and kindness.

ProtectionGroundingCalmKindnessChakra: Root (black), Heart (pink and green)Zodiac: Libra, Capricorn

Traditional associations, shared as folklore. They are not health or medical claims.

Black stones

Black tourmaline, obsidian or smoky quartz?

Three black stones, three different minerals. Customers ask about these more than any others.

	Black tourmaline	Obsidian	Smoky quartz
What it is	Mineral crystal (schorl)	Volcanic glass, no crystals	Quartz crystal
Look	Matte to glossy black, grooved sticks	Glassy black, smooth curved breaks	Brown to near-black, see-through at the edges
Hardness	7 to 7.5	5 to 5.5	7
Edges	Splintery	Very sharp on raw pieces	Clean crystal faces
Sells as	Chips, sticks, tumbled, towers	Tumbled, towers, boulders, chunks	Points, clusters, elestials

Real, treated or fake?

Real black tourmaline crystals have fine grooves running along their length and a rounded triangle shape at the end. Smooth black "sticks" with no grooves are something else.
Black glass and dyed stone are sometimes sold as tourmaline. Glass is smooth, glassy and has curved breaks; tourmaline breaks unevenly and splinters.
Black tourmaline chips often carry a little white quartz or mica. That is normal; it is how the crystals grow.

Care and cleaning

Tourmaline is hard, but black sticks are brittle along their length and can snap if dropped. Pack them in bags or boxes, not loose.
Rinse with lukewarm water and mild soap and let it dry; chips can be rinsed in a sieve.
Raw pieces can shed small black splinters. Keep a cloth under sample bowls.
Specimens on matrix are fragile. Dust them with a soft brush and do not wash them.

How shops sell tourmaline

Black tourmaline is one of the most requested stones in any crystal shop. Keep chips and small sticks in stock all year.
Sell chips by the scoop or the 100 g bag at the till; it is an easy add-on to any purchase.
New-home and housewarming gifts are a natural fit for black tourmaline. Pair it with a meaning card (Black Tourmaline cards come in 10-packs).
The Black Tourmaline Essentials bundle gives a shop a starter range in one order.

Apply for wholesale pricing

On the shelf

How to display tourmaline

Black tourmaline sells on texture. Give customers the grooves and the weight.

A bowl at the doorMany customers ask for a protection stone for the home. A bowl of black tourmaline chunks by the entrance answers them.
Show the groovesPlace one large raw stick under a light, ridges facing out, as the hero piece above the small stock.
Coloured tourmaline at eye levelSpecimens and green-on-quartz pieces are small and detailed. Put them in a lit case at eye level with a loupe.
Pair it with smoky quartzBlack tourmaline and smoky quartz together make an easy grounding set for gift baskets.

Questions

Tourmaline FAQ

What is black tourmaline?

Black tourmaline is schorl, the iron-rich member of the tourmaline mineral family. It forms long, grooved black crystals and is hard (7 to 7.5 on the Mohs scale).

Is tourmaline the same as obsidian?

No. Tourmaline is a crystal with grooves and a triangular cross-section. Obsidian is volcanic glass, smooth and glassy, with very sharp edges when broken.

What is watermelon tourmaline?

A tourmaline crystal that changes colour from the centre to the rim, usually pink inside and green outside, like a slice of watermelon.

Why does black tourmaline have white bits in it?

Raw tourmaline often grows with quartz, feldspar or mica around it. Those white and silver specks are natural and show the piece is untreated rough.

Can tourmaline go in water?

Polished and raw black tourmaline can be rinsed. Dry it afterwards. Specimens on matrix should be kept dry.

Can I buy tourmaline without a minimum order?

Yes. There is no minimum order. Approved wholesale customers see their wholesale price on every product once signed in.

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