1.33 Ct. Tourmaline from Africa

This 1.33 carat, emerald cut green tourmaline offers an exceptional combination of measured precision and natural character, making it an excellent choice for an educated buyer seeking both beauty and substance. The stone measures 6.82 x 5.71 x 4.15 millimeters, and its transparent body combined with an intense color intensity creates a lively and saturated green that reads with depth through the broad step facets of the emerald cut. The clarity is graded as very slightly included, evaluated at eye level, which means that the inclusions are minimal and do not detract from the gem’s visual appeal in typical mounted settings, while also providing the natural fingerprint that connoisseurs value. The polish is graded excellent, with clean facet junctions and crisp facet planes that maximize light return along the table and step facets, and the gem has received no enhancement, ensuring the color and character you see are wholly natural. Origin is Africa, which for many buyers adds provenance value because African tourmalines often display strong, saturated colors and geological signatures prized by collectors and lapidaries.

The emerald cut is an intentional choice for a specimen like this, because step-cut facets emphasize color saturation and clarity rather than scintillation, producing a hall-of-mirrors effect that allows the green hues to present as broad flashes across the table. Tourmaline is a durable gem for everyday jewelry, with a hardness on the Mohs scale of approximately 7 to 7.5 and a specific gravity typically in the range of 3.02 to 3.25, making it suitable for rings, pendants, and bespoke settings where the clean geometry of the emerald cut can be showcased. Optically, tourmaline commonly shows strong pleochroism, and this green tourmaline can show subtle shifts depending on orientation and lighting, from cooler bluish-green to warmer yellowish-green tones, which a skilled cutter can orient to maximize the most desirable face-up color. The refractive indices for gem-quality tourmaline are generally around 1.62 to 1.64 with birefringence that can vary, and these optical properties combine with the emerald cut to produce a clear, deep green that reads as intense without appearing overly dark in standard lighting conditions.

When comparing a natural, unenhanced tourmaline like this to lab-grown alternatives, several important distinctions make natural stones compelling to informed purchasers. Lab-grown tourmalines can offer remarkable clarity and uniform color at a lower price point, however they lack the geological history and subtle complexity that natural stones possess. Natural tourmaline’s inclusions are not merely imperfections, they are microscopic records of the gem’s formation, and they contribute to the uniqueness of each stone, which is a primary reason collectors and investors prize natural gems. Additionally, provenance matters in the natural gem market, and a documented African origin can increase desirability because certain localities produce characteristic hues and trace element signatures that are difficult to reproduce in a laboratory. Natural, unenhanced stones also tend to retain or increase long-term market value more consistently than their synthetic counterparts, because rarity and natural origin are central drivers of collector demand. From a gemological standpoint, the color zoning, pleochroic behavior, and internal features of natural tourmaline give it a complexity of appearance that many buyers find more engaging than the sometimes uniform look of lab-grown material.

At The Natural Gemstone Company we prioritize transparency and education, and this green tourmaline exemplifies the attributes we seek when sourcing natural gems. The combination of 1.33 carats, precise dimensions of 6.82 x 5.71 x 4.15 mm, an emerald cut that reveals color and clarity, a very slightly included clarity grade at eye level, intense color intensity, excellent polish, no enhancements, and African origin make this a compelling choice for both the discerning jewelry designer and the investor looking for enduring natural beauty. If you are considering this gem for a bespoke commission or as an addition to a curated collection, the stone’s natural provenance and unenhanced state provide both aesthetic pleasure and market credibility, and our team can provide further documentation and high-resolution views to assist you in assessing how the gem will perform in your chosen setting.