Indicolite or Indigolite is the beautiful greenish blue to hot blue variety of Elbaite, which is a part of the Tourmaline group. Considered as one of the most colorful member of the gemstone family, the Tourmaline group, sometimes have the same gems with alternating colors. The most popular variety of Tourmaline is Elbaite, which is found in many beautiful and varied colors. These are highly prized as both minerals and gemstones and range from transparent to translucent forms. The opaque variety however has little gem value.

Indicolite a rarer form of Elbaite, has a typical color which is deeper than other blue gems, almost neon blue. Other varieties are: the green colored Verdellite, a cat’s eye variety, pink to red colored Rubellite and green and red colored (in the same stone) Watermelon Tourmaline. When viewed from different angles, all Elbaite specimens show stronger or even different colors. This property causes the blue color in Indicolite to appear darker when viewed down the axis of an uncut crystal. Thus to take full advantage of the color potential of the stone, the gem cutter must be aware of this property.

Indicolite is a very good stone to be worn as it has a hardness of 7 to 7.5 on the Moh’s Scale. This gemstone mined in Madagascar, North America, Brazil, Myanmar, Africa, Siberia, Australia and Sri Lanka is now becoming very popular on the gemstone market due to its property of hardness.

Indicolite’s blue color is believed to have a soothing power and relieve stress; those born in October also wear it as a birthstone.