Talk:Tourmaline
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The style in this article is atrocious! Anyone making an edit or with enough time, remove all the soft commas.
The page is much improved.
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[edit] Additions I would suggest
Tourmaline polarizes light when cut perpendicular to the long axis. It is both pyroelectric and piezoelectric.
Tourmaline also comes in the colors: orange (sometimes called Pumpkin Tourmaline) and purple (Siberite when found in Russia, but also found in California).
Radiation can be used to change the color (if I remember right, this was in a paper >30 years ago by an AT&T or Bell Labs researcher).
[edit] Incorrect entry of Tourmaline Refractive Index
The Refractive Index entry is incorrect, transparency is ANOTHER optical property. The correct Refractive Index for Tourmaline is 1.624-1.644. The variation is +-.005 and the birifringence is .020.
- OK. Fixed per 20th ed. Dana Manual. The article text appears to be largely from 1911 Britannica article and in need of serious rewriting ... someday :-) -Vsmith 00:11, 29 Apr 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Wrong!
The whole page is wrong. 'Tourmaline' is not a mineral, and shouldn't be described as one. It's a group of minerals with similar (but not identical) properties - minerals such as Elbaite, Dravite, Schorl, Uvite, etc. So it's plain wrong to list physical properties, etc. when they vary from species to species. I don't really have time to update this now, but someone needs to kick this page around. --Jolyonralph 13:09, 6 May 2005 (UTC)
I submit that the whole page isn't wrong. Tourmaline is a mineral because it has a characteristic crystalline form. Because of its chemical complexity and variability we witness a broad range of color, perhaps more than any other commonly recognized gemstone. I have never heard anyone in Gemology refer to the "Tourmaline Group."
- I agree w/ Jolyonralph, tourmaline is a group of minerals with varying compositions. Many of the physical properties are shared by members of the group but not all. The page should be revised as a group page with each of the various minerals in the group described with a section or a separate page (for the major ones). Properties in common should be discussed in the intro and specific properties amplified in each section/subarticle. See Mineral galleries] for an example discussion. I'll put it on my to do list, but ... when? :-) Vsmith 04:05, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC)
Why not take the members of this group and treat them the way garnets and feldspars are delt with on Wikipedia? I know that this requires a lot of work from Wikipedians familiar with gemstones but a worthy task nonetheless. User:T.E. Goodwin
- That's basically what I had in mind. Someday. -Vsmith 23:20, 20 Jun 2005 (UTC)
OK - finally started revising the article as a mineral group. More to do... Vsmith 03:03, 13 September 2005 (UTC)
Interesting point, tourmaline is commonly quoted on alternative sites as emitting far infrared radiation and negative ions. Perhaps some comment on such doubtful claims as these would be useful.
[edit] i have a chunk
i have this piece of tourmaline,approx. 1" diam. x 2" long, basicalliy a 2"x 2" cylinder.
it looks pretty dark ( opaque ) looking down the axis,has blue/green/golds on the edges and has a rough "skin" that is white streaked and rough,almost as if it was a stalag-mite/tite. i got this in a little "mine your own" type place in the White Mountains of New England.Namely just off of Mt.Washington in New Hampshire/Vermont. Can anyone advise me of this crystal?
thank you slocke3750@aol.com 24.3.178.128 16:53, 23 February 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Varieties
It should probably be noted that while the different species of tourmaline are commonly divided out by their color this is not an accurate method of distinction by any means. Along those same lines this article refers to both the species and the variety names but does not at any point make the distinction between the two, that species are recognized minerals and varieties are just general names with no regulation as to meaning Kevmin 02:08, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
[additional comment] While there are several varieties of tourmaline based on their chemical composition, such as liddicoatite, dravite, elbaite, etc, almost all the jewelry-usable material is elbaite. These are properly described by color, such as rubellite, indicolite, paraiba, bicolor, etc.
Varieties such as dravite are usually nearly opaque black, and not used much in jewelry.
- The "varieties" that you reference, Dravite, liddicoatite, elbaite, etc... are not in actual fact varieties. These are separate SPECIES of minerals that are part of the Tourmaline GROUP, which in turn is not actually a mineral species itself. THe spereation of tourmaline by color is at best inaccurate. The color that a specimen my be often has little bearing as to the actual species represented. This is one of the inconsistencies that I was referring to in my original post, PS please sign your posts Kevmin 02:02, 6 March 2007 (UTC)
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- You are both speaking different languages. Kevmin, you speak mineralese, while Krementz speaks gemstone-ese - to use this rough analogy. In your own fields you might be correct but to foist your respective views on the article would be short sighted. Right now the article needs a bunch of expansion to tease out the intracacies of this gem/mineral group. As with any mineral/gem I would suggest developing subsections to deal with the different content needed to develop the article. Mineral details specifying species of tourmaline etc, and then a seperate section dealing with the gem varieties (that are typically based on color - ignoring the mineral species), rubellite, indicolite, paraiba, bicolor, etc. BTW I would like to confirm whether the statement made by Krementz that "almost all the jewelry-usable material is elbaite" really is accurate. I am not sure that it is. Prove me wrong though please. SauliH 07:28, 6 March 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Tourmaline antiquing solution for copper, bronze and brass.
Tourmaline as a solution is used to antique or darken copper, brass and bronze. It is available in brown and black and afterwards the metal should be rinsed in water before coating with Jade Oil. It would be interesting to know the chemical composition and process required to produce the Tourmaline fluid. AC 11:12, 11 March 2007 (UTC)
