These zones can alternate in color from the inside to the outside or from the top to bottom. Elbaite is strongly pleochroic which means that a transparent crystal will appear darker when viewed down the long axis of the crystal. A green or blue Elbaite can appear black when viewed from such an angle. Color is extremely variable with the most common colors being red, pink, green, blue, orange and yellow. Luster is vitreous.
Crystals are transparent to translucent.
3 m Crystal Habit is typically elongated three, and occasionally six, sided prisms. The terminations can be either a simple to complex trigonal pyramid or flat basal face. The prism faces are striated lengthwise. In cross section, all tourmalines will appear predominantly triangular in shape with some crystals showing a hexagon when three secondary prism faces are nearly as dominant as the three primary prism faces. Doubly terminated crystals are hemimorphic meaning that the two ends of the crystal are not exactly alike.