Rubellite

Rubellite is the red to pink variety of tourmaline (specifically elbaite), colored by manganese and sometimes lithium in the crystal structure. It forms in lithium-rich granitic pegmatites where boron, aluminum, and lithium-bearing fluids create the complex chemistry required for tourmaline crystallization.

The finest rubellite has a saturated red that holds its color in both natural and incandescent light. Many pink tourmalines shift to a brownish or grayish tone under incandescent light, but true rubellite maintains its vivid red. This light-stability test is what separates rubellite from ordinary pink tourmaline in the gem trade.

Rubellite often forms in the same pegmatite pockets as other tourmaline varieties, sometimes in the same crystal (creating watermelon tourmaline). The color change from green to red within a single crystal occurs as the fluid chemistry shifts during growth, with increasing manganese concentration producing the red zones.

Rubellite is identified as a red to purplish-red tourmaline that maintains its color under different lighting conditions. The trigonal crystal system produces striated, elongated prisms with a distinctive rounded triangular cross-section.

Distinguish from red spinel (isometric, single refractive), ruby (higher RI, greater hardness of 9), rhodolite garnet (isometric, different RI), and pink sapphire (trigonal but different properties). Rubellite shows strong pleochroism: different shades of red when viewed from different angles.