| Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) / Tourmaline Cutting and Long Bar Shapes |
Why are so many tourmalines cut into long narrow bars? I don't see many other gems cut that way. Is it just a trend now? 
Tourmaline naturally forms in long crystals with a triangular cross section and rounded sides. Since gem cutters strive to preserve as much of the rough stone as possible, you will often see tourmaline cut into long bars, octagons or baguettes. Additionally, a lot of tourmaline has interesting color variations in these long crystals and this type of shape and cut tends to preserve and showcase these unique color characteristics of tourmaline, especially for specific tourmaline varieties such as watermelon tourmaline.
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- First Published: February-20-2006
- Last Updated: May-25-2018
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