Pink tourmaline comes in a range of colors from pale pink to red.
Tourmaline is considered to be the gemstone of firm and long-lasting love and friendship. The gemstone comes in the widest variety of colors, including a range of red and pink shades, of any precious stone. Pink tourmaline is one of the birthstones for October; it is coveted by those with October birthdays as well as those without. If you own something purportedly made of pink tourmaline, you can check to see if your stone is genuine.
Instructions
1. Purchase from a reputable source. Always be sure to purchase gemstones from jewelry stores and other reputable vendors. Tourmaline purchased from street vendors or online may not be genuine.
2. Hold the stone up to the light; you should be able to see through the stone. Genuine pink tourmaline is not cloudy.
3. Check the hardness. Pink tourmaline is a relatively hard rock on the Mohs scale, at 7.5 Mohs. If the stone seems brittle or fragile, it may be a fake.
4. Investigate any possible lookalikes. Minerals.net lists all of the lookalikes for pink tourmaline (see references). Lookalikes include kunzite, pink topaz, spinel and morganite.
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