Tourmaline Bi-colored

Tourmaline is a crystal silicate mineral compounded with elements such as aluminium, iron, magnesium, sodium, lithium, or potassium. Tourmaline is classed as a semi-precious stone and the gem comes in a wide variety of colors. The name comes from the Sinhalese word "turamali" or "toramalli", which applied to different gemstones found in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Even though tourmaline has been known since antiquity in the Mediterranean region, the Dutch imported it only in 1703 from Sri Lanka to Western and Central Europe. They gave the new gems a Sinhalese name, Turamali, which is thought to mean "stone with mixed colors."
Bicolored tourmaline are rare and have two or more colors. Tourmaline crystals with a pink center and a green rim, or visa versa, are called watermelon tourmaline, because their coloring is similar to the pink flesh and green rind of a watermelon. many other tourmalines are made up of two or more colors, individual crystals containing up to fifteen different colors or shades exist. Bicolored and multicolored tourmaline is carved or cutand polished to show off the different colors to the best effect.