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ABOUT MINT JEWELLERY
Mint was founded by Sue Smith. Sue specialised in design at the Southampton Institute in the UK and then at Dartington College of Arts. She has worked in various creative fields in the UK, US and Asia. Her passion for working with Tourmaline and Silver is reflected in our diverse Mint collections. As designers we are committed to design excellence and achieving the highest standards in production quality.
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ABOUT TOURMALINE
We have chosen to work with Tourmaline because we love the special qualities of this unique stone. All our stones are hand selected with great care and each piece is completely unique.
Tourmaline is a rare natural gemstone, occurring mainly in Brazil, Africa, Madagascar, Mexico, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and certain areas of North America. Its unique crystalline structure means that it is formed in a broad spectrum of rainbow colours from deep reds to pinks, greens, blues and yellows. These colours have a depth, beauty and softness to them which is unique and is a perfect complement to the lustre of polished silver.
The name tourmaline derives from the Singhalese expression ‘tura mali’ which translates as ‘stone of mixed colours’. No Tourmaline stone exactly resembles another and therefore this gemstone is excellently suited to match all moods. Since ancient times Tourmaline has been attributed with spiritual qualities and is said to be an especially powerful influence on love and friendship, lending them permanence and stability as well as enhancing self confidence in the wearer. Tourmalines are also said to be useful in relaxing the body and mind. Crystal healers believe that all forms of Tourmaline stimulate the biomagnetic, electrical and crystalline properties of the body.
Deep pink Tourmaline is often called Rubellite and is said to inspire love, spirituality, creativity and to enhance willpower. It is believed to activate the psycho-spiritual properties of the second chakra, enhancing creativity, fertility and promoting female balance. Rubellite has also often been mistaken for Rubies. In the late 17th century the Tzar of Russia commissioned many items of gemstone jewellery. Many were thought to be Rubies but have recently been discovered to be Rubellite. Another monarch enchanted by Tourmaline was Empress Dowager Tz’u Hsi, the last Empress of China, who adored Tourmaline so much she bought almost a ton of it. She went to her eternal resting place on a pillow carved from Rubellite.
In our designs we do not use faceted stones because we believe that the real beauty of Tourmaline can be appreciated at its best in polished round or oval ‘cabochon’ stones that allow the full depth of colour and unique quality of each stone to be revealed. This gemstone is excellently suited to wearing and is uncomplicated to care for, since all Tourmalines show a hardness of 7-7.5 on the Mohs’ scale. The nature of Tourmaline means that there will always be some variations in colour from piece to piece. Tourmaline does often have small inclusions in the stones often called ‘cats eyes’, but we believe that this adds to its intriguing beauty. We hope that, like us, you will see this as part of the unique quality of this special gemstone. |