Basics about tourmaline

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Tourmaline is mined mainly in Brazil, China and Israel and it is the birthstone of October.

This ore has many color variations and has been highly valued.

Tourmaline has been known as a miracle stone which generates electricity since the beginning of the 18th century.
It was named as "Electronic Stone" by Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778), Swedish botanist and physician.

In the 19th century, the brothers Pierre and Jacques Curie and Riecke elucidated how tourmaline generates electricity.

Tourmalines' positive effects particularly on the human body started to attract attention in the 1990's. It is believed that the effects are due to the electronic properties of tourmaline and the chemical elements contained in the stone.

Various effects on animals and plants have also been reported.

Tourmaline generates negative ions when external force is applied.
While the generation processes have not been fully elucidated, it is believed that it is due to the piezoelectric properties of tourmaline.

Tourmaline generates little amount of negative ions when not in motion because atmospheric pressures and air friction are the only external force applied to it. However, the negative ions are cancelled out by positive ions floating in the air. This is why almost no negative ion can be detected when tourmaline is not in motion.