Indicolite is the trade name given to tourmaline in the blue range, from cool steely tones through to deeper inky and slightly greenish blues. The colour arises from iron within the elbaite tourmaline structure, and because tourmaline is strongly pleochroic, an indicolite can show two distinct depths of colour depending on the direction through which it is viewed — one reason cutters orient these crystals with particular care.
This page gathers the stones in our collection that carry the indicolite name. You will find blue tourmaline, the classic expression of the term, alongside bi-colour tourmaline, where a blue zone sits against a contrasting colour within a single crystal, and red tourmaline, which appears here where it is paired with blue in parti-coloured material.
When choosing, weigh tone and saturation first: lighter indicolites read brighter and livelier, while darker stones carry more presence but return less light. Consider also how the cut has been oriented, since this governs the face-up colour, and — in bi-colour stones — how cleanly or softly the colour boundary is placed within the outline.
