This intricate bluish-green stone has minute traces of copper to give it a truly distinctive beauty all its own. An alternative birthstone for December is Zircon. Tourmaline Tourmaline is a relatively young stone in the history of gemology, only being known since the 18th century. Because of its electrical properties, it easily attracts light objects and was a favorite toy of Dutch children before its gem nature was established. Tourmaline is an important gemstone today because of its availability, moderate price, and variety of colors.
Tourmaline occurs in many shades of pink, red, green, blue, yellow and brown.
During crystal growth the color may change abruptly, so it's not unusual to find a bi-colored gemstone. Red ringed in green is called watermelon tourmaline. Tourmaline is faceted, dome-shaped, carved or made into beads. The most fashionable colors are the rich raspberries, reds, greens and teal blues.