Text: Joanna Sobel, founder of Brazi14 min read · Brazi Druse Jewelry editorial team
Pink tourmaline is a mineral from the tourmaline group, most often elbaite (a lithium-bearing tourmaline), with its color provided by manganese. It has a hardness of 7–7.5 on the Mohs scale, so it withstands everyday wear better than opal (5–6.5), October's other birthstone. We make jewelry with it in 925 silver and gold-plated silver, and it costs from PLN 69: that's the price of the stretch ring in size S, M, or L. The boutique on Grzybowska also has a raw pink-and-purple chunk from Brazil weighing 224 g.
All pink tourmaline designs — from PLN 69
- What it is: a pink variety of tourmaline, usually elbaite. Manganese gives it its color, while the most intensely colored pinkish-red stones are called rubellites in the trade.
- Can it handle everyday wear: yes, it has a hardness of 7–7.5 on the Mohs scale. It is less resistant to impacts and sudden temperature changes.
- Meaning: in lithotherapy tradition, it is regarded as a stone of the heart and tenderness. It is also one of October's two birthstones.
- Price: from PLN 69 to 399; the silver and gold-plated versions cost the same; collector's specimens are one-of-a-kind pieces.
Table of contents
- What is pink tourmaline?
- Origin and geological mysteries
- Pink tourmaline — physical properties
- Is pink tourmaline enhanced?
- Can you wear it every day and sleep in the bracelet?
- Meaning in lithotherapy and the spiritual sphere
- Which hand should you wear pink tourmaline on?
- Pink tourmaline in jewelry
- Which pink tourmaline to choose: prices and sizes
- What to pair pink tourmaline with?
- Pink tourmaline as a gift and October's birthstone
- Pink tourmaline specimens from the boutique
- How to care for pink tourmaline?
- FAQ — frequently asked questions
What is pink tourmaline?
Tourmaline is the name of an entire group of minerals: borosilicates with a shared crystal structure and varying chemical compositions. The same group includes black, green, and blue tourmalines. Pink tourmalines are usually elbaite, a tourmaline containing lithium and aluminum. Its name comes from the Italian island of Elba, where it was discovered.
Manganese is responsible for the pink color. Researchers from Caltech (Reinitz and Rossman, 1988) showed that many pink elbaites grew in rock as nearly colorless crystals and acquired their color later, when natural radiation from the surrounding rocks oxidized the manganese in the crystal over a long geological period. The shade ranges from powder pink through fuchsia to raspberry red, while the most intensely colored stones are called rubellites in the trade.
A single crystal can have several colors: watermelon tourmaline has a pink center and a green outer layer.
The name “tourmaline” itself comes from Ceylon, present-day Sri Lanka. According to GIA, the Sinhalese word toramalli meant a mixture of colored stones, and Dutch merchants used it for colorful, water-worn pebbles that miners picked from gem-bearing gravel. For centuries, tourmaline was mistaken for other stones, such as ruby, until mineralogy learned how to distinguish it.
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Origin and geological mysteries
Pink tourmaline forms in granitic pegmatites, rare igneous rocks that can contain crystals up to a meter long. Quartz, feldspar, lepidolite, beryl, and spodumene grow in the same pockets as elbaite. Lepidolite there can be lilac, while quartz and feldspar are white, which is why tourmaline in rough specimens often sits in purple or white rock.
Tourmaline most often comes from Brazil, and collectible elbaite specimens are known there, among other places, from the areas around Araçuaí and Governador Valadares in the state of Minas Gerais. It is also mined in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kenya, Madagascar, and Mozambique, as well as in Maine and California in the United States. Both of our specimens also come from Brazil: lump no. 212 and crystal no. 241.
According to GIA, between 1902 and 1910, mines in the San Diego district of California sent 120 tons of rubellite to imperial China because the Dowager Empress Cixi was particularly fond of this color.
Pink tourmaline — physical properties
On the Mohs scale, tourmaline has a hardness of 7–7.5, the same as quartz or slightly higher; this is stated by GIA and the international mineral database Mindat. Glass, which is used to make imitations, is noticeably softer than tourmaline. Elbaite has very poor cleavage, so the stone does not easily split along cleavage planes, but it is brittle, and a hard impact against the edge of a countertop can chip a bead.
Tourmaline changes hue depending on the viewing angle, a phenomenon known as pleochroism. Along the crystal’s long axis, the color is darker than when viewed from the side, and a cut stone changes hue slightly as it is rotated.
In 1703, the Dutch brought tourmaline from Ceylon that, when tested in a fire, first attracted ash from glowing coals and then repelled it; this was described in 1707. Tourmaline is pyroelectric and piezoelectric, so when heated or compressed, it becomes electrically charged at opposite ends of the crystal. This effect is not noticeable in small beads worn on the hand.
Is pink tourmaline enhanced?
Sometimes, although according to GIA, most tourmaline on the market does not undergo routine treatment. Pink is nevertheless one of the colors that can be produced by irradiation. The two main methods are heating and irradiation: the effect of heating is permanent and usually undetectable, while a color obtained through radiation may fade under the influence of heat and strong light.
Since natural pink colour also develops under the influence of radiation in rock, a laboratory replicates the same process, only faster. Reinitz and Rossman showed that naturally pink elbaite and elbaite irradiated in a laboratory have the same spectral characteristics, which is why this treatment is very difficult to detect.
Our jewellery cards do not state whether the beads were heat-treated or irradiated. The word “untreated” on the card for rough stone no. 212 means that no one has cut or polished this stone.
Can you wear it every day and sleep in the bracelet?
Yes for everyday wear, but it is better to remove it before sleeping. A hardness of 7–7.5 is enough to keep the beads from being scratched easily during normal wear, but the stones are held by elastic, cord or chain, and these wear out faster than tourmaline. At night, the cord can catch on bedding, while the ring’s elastic loses its resilience from constant stretching and contact with creams.
So remove the bracelet and ring before sleeping, bathing, using a sauna and cleaning with detergents, as heat, water and chemicals damage the elastic and cord most quickly. The stone itself is also best protected from sudden temperature changes: sudden heating or cooling can cause cracking, while very high temperatures can change the colour of tourmaline.
For everyday wear, the simplest choice is a bracelet with a clasp. The extender lets you adjust the circumference, and you do not stretch it like an elastic bracelet when putting it on.
Meaning in lithotherapy and the spiritual sphere
In the tradition of lithotherapy, pink tourmaline is considered a heart stone. It is associated with the heart chakra, tenderness, self-acceptance and closeness with others, and people who work with stones reach for it after difficult experiences, believing that it eases tension and sadness. Medicine does not confirm that stones have this effect.
In astrology, tourmaline is associated with Libra and Scorpio because it is one of the two birthstones for October. The stones for the other months are listed in the birthstones by date of birth guide.
Which hand should you wear pink tourmaline on?
On the hand you use less, which for right-handed people is usually the left. The beads are then less likely to knock against your desk, door handles and the edge of your laptop. If you wear a watch, put it on the other hand so that the metal case does not rub against the stones.
In lithotherapy, it is often said that the left hand “receives” and the right “gives back”, so a heart stone is worn on the left, closer to the heart. If the right feels more comfortable, wear it on the right.
Pink tourmaline ring on elastic can be worn on any finger. Choose size S, M or L based on your finger circumference in millimetres, which you can check in the ring size chart.
You can measure your wrist circumference with a measuring tape or a piece of thread. The guide how to choose a bracelet size explains how much extra room to allow. Wedding bands and engagement rings have their own conventions: which hand and which finger to wear them on.
Pink tourmaline in jewelry
In our workshop, pink tourmaline is used in jewelry as small faceted beads approximately 3 mm in diameter. Each has a slightly different shade, from pale pink to raspberry, so bracelets from the same series vary slightly from one another. The faceted cut, with many small flat surfaces, gives the beads their sparkle.
We set the beads in 925 sterling silver or gold-plated silver. With silver, the pink appears cooler; with gold plating, warmer. The choice mainly depends on which metal you wear every day. Raw crystals are too large for delicate jewelry, so we sell them as collector's specimens.
We also offer the pink tourmaline necklace as a set with a bracelet: the necklace is 37 cm with a 5 cm extender, the bracelet is 14 cm with a 3 cm extender, and the beads in both are 3 mm in diameter.
Which pink tourmaline to choose: prices and sizes
For each design in the table, you can choose silver or gold-plated silver at no extra charge. The most frequently purchased items in our online store since 2018 are the pink tourmaline ring (19 pieces) and the tourmaline and rose quartz bracelet (18 pieces).
| Design | Price | Metal | Size | For everyday wear or as a gift |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pink Tourmaline Ring | 69 zł | silver or gold-plated silver | S 48–51 mm, M 52–55 mm, L 56–59 mm finger circumference; elastic | for everyday wear |
| Pink Tourmaline and Rose Quartz Ring | 89 zł | silver or gold-plated silver | S, M, L as above; elastic | for everyday wear, paired with a rose quartz bracelet |
| Pink Tourmaline Chain Bracelet | 155 zł | silver or gold-plated silver | 15 cm + 3 cm extender | for everyday wear |
| Pink Tourmaline Bracelet - Subtle Shine | 170 zł | silver or gold-plated silver | 14 cm + 3 cm extender | for everyday wear and as a gift |
| Tourmaline and Rose Quartz Bracelet | PLN 175 | silver or gold-plated silver | 14 cm + 4 cm extender | for everyday wear, with rose quartz |
| Rose Quartz Pink Tourmaline Chain Bracelet | 180 zł | silver or gold-plated silver | 14 cm + 3 cm extender | for everyday wear, more light pink |
| Bracelet and Necklace Set - Subtle Elegance | 399 zł | silver or gold-plated silver | bracelet 14 cm + 3 cm, necklace 37 cm + 5 cm | as a gift |
A bracelet with an extender allows for a one- or two-centimeter measurement error when measuring your wrist. The pink tourmaline collection also includes other designs.
What to pair pink tourmaline with?
We most often pair it with rose quartz. Quartz is lighter and milky, while tourmaline is darker and more transparent, so together in one bracelet they create two shades of pink. Quartz has a hardness of 7 on the Mohs scale, equal to the lower limit for tourmaline, so both are similarly resistant to scratches.
In the last 12 months, the tourmaline and rose quartz bracelet for PLN 175 and the pink tourmaline ring were the most frequently purchased pink tourmaline models in our online store, with 5 pieces each. The tourmaline and rose quartz ring on an elastic cord pairs well with the bracelet.
Recommendations against combining stones come from lithotherapy, and each author gives different ones. In your jewelry box, keep tourmaline separate from harder stones such as sapphire, ruby, or diamond, as they may scratch the beads and silver.
Pink tourmaline as a gift and October's birthstone
According to GIA, October has two birthstones, opal and tourmaline, with tourmaline being the newer one. It was already on the American list of monthly birthstones in 1912, and in 1952 the Jewelry Industry Council of America assigned pink tourmaline to October. Opal is softer, so tourmaline is a better choice for a bracelet worn every day.
We compare both October birthstones in the article October birthstone: opal or tourmaline, together with gift ideas featuring pink tourmaline.
We sell the most pink tourmaline in our online store in December: in the Decembers since 2018, a total of 24 pieces have been ordered. When you do not know the recipient's size, a bracelet with an extender is a safer choice than a ring, such as Subtelny Blask for PLN 170.
For a bigger occasion, there is a bracelet and necklace set, and when you want to leave the choice to the recipient, a gift voucher.
Pink tourmaline specimens from the boutique
In addition to jewelry, we have two raw specimens in the boutique that show what tourmaline looks like before it is cut and polished. Specimen no. 212 is a pink and purple, striated stone from Brazil weighing 224 g. The striations on tourmaline are usually elongated grooves running along the crystal columns, characteristic of elbaite.
Crystal no. 241 is a multicolored tourmaline (elbaite) in shades of green, pink, and black, set on a steel stand. It weighs 495 g and comes from Brazil; thanks to the stand, you can place it on a shelf or desk. Both specimens are one-of-a-kind pieces, and the cards below show the current price and availability. If you would like to see either of them in the boutique, call us and we will set it aside.
The boutique on Grzybowska has a 4.9 rating on Google from 197 reviews (as of October 11, 2026).
See it in person
61 Grzybowska Street, unit 5, 00-844 Warsaw — Platinum Towers Shopping Arcade, ground floor, next to the Norblin Factory and Warsaw Breweries; Wola district.
Mon–Fri 11:00–19:00 · Sat 10:00–18:00 · Sun closed. Parking is paid, but the first hour is free with purchases at the boutique.
Call: +48 575 666 195 — we will set aside the selected specimen.
How to care for this exceptional stone?
Clean tourmaline with warm soapy water and a soft brush, without using an ultrasonic or steam cleaner. Do not soak jewelry strung on elastic or cord completely: wipe the beads with a damp cloth, then with a dry one, so water does not soak into the thread.
Apply perfume, cream, and hairspray before putting on your jewelry, because cosmetics dull silver and weaken the elastic cord. 925 silver darkens over time; wipe it with a silver polishing cloth, avoiding the stones. Wipe gold-plated silver only with a soft, slightly damp cloth, because the gold plating wears off over time. Store your jewelry in a cool, dark place, away from radiators and sunny windowsills.
If you also have other stones in your jewelry box, check how to clean jewelry made of natural stones.
FAQ — frequently asked questions
What makes pink tourmaline special?
Its color, caused by manganese, sets it apart, as does the fact that it shows a different shade of pink from different angles (pleochroism). It has a hardness of 7–7.5 on the Mohs scale, so it is suitable for everyday jewelry, and when heated or compressed, it becomes electrically charged.
Rubellite and pink tourmaline — how do they differ?
Rubellite is a trade name for red and deep pink tourmalines, ranging from purplish-red to brownish-red. GIA notes that some in the industry do not use it for pink stones, so a light, powder-pink tourmaline remains pink tourmaline. Both names refer to tourmaline, and there is no strict boundary between them; the name is determined by the color and trade convention. The beads in our jewelry are predominantly light, pastel pink.
Pink tourmaline — which zodiac sign does it suit?
In astrology, most commonly associated with Libra and Scorpio, because tourmaline is the birthstone for October; this association comes from tradition.
How does pink tourmaline differ from black tourmaline?
It is the same mineral group with a different composition. Black tourmaline is usually schorl, rich in iron, while pink tourmaline is usually elbaite, which contains lithium, with manganese providing the color. In tradition, black tourmaline is associated with protection and grounding, while pink tourmaline is associated with matters of the heart.
How to identify natural pink tourmaline?
Clues include tiny inclusions inside the stone, pleochroism, and a reliable description from the seller. Glass, a common imitation, does not change shade when rotated because it has no pleochroism. Only a gemological examination can provide certainty (more: how to identify a genuine stone).
How to care for pink tourmaline?
Wash it with warm water, mild soap, and a soft brush, without using an ultrasonic or steam cleaner. Only wipe stretch jewelry with a damp cloth and keep it in a separate pouch, away from harder stones.
How much does pink tourmaline cost?
With us, pink tourmaline jewelry costs from PLN 69 to PLN 399. The least expensive is the stretch-ring, the most expensive is the bracelet and necklace set, and the other models are in the pink tourmaline collection. Collectible specimens, such as piece no. 212, are individual items with their own prices on their product pages. For faceted stones, GIA considers color the main price factor; red and deep pink tourmalines are among the most sought-after, and above 5 carats, the price per carat usually increases.
How we checked this. Update of October 11, 2026: the prices, sizes, lengths, and weights of specimens come from product pages as of that date. We calculated “most frequently purchased” from online store orders from 2018-2026, excluding sales at the boutique and on Allegro. We verified hardness, treatment, care, and October birthstones using GIA materials (October Birthstones, Tourmaline Care and Cleaning), the history of the name and price factors also using GIA (Tourmaline History & Lore, Tourmaline Quality Factors), composition and occurrence in the Handbook of Mineralogy, the role of natural radiation in the work of Reinitz and Rossman (American Mineralogist, 1988), the history of pyroelectricity in Physics Today (2005), the history of the birthstone list in the encyclopedia (Wikipedia, Birthstone), and the boutique rating on its Google Business Profile.