Back in the 1500s in Brazil, a Spanish explorer stumbled upon a shiny green crystal and thought it was an emerald. He didn’t realize it was actually a tourmaline! This mix-up lasted for a long time, and it wasn’t until the 1800s that scientists figured out that tourmaline was its own special type of mineral. The name "tourmaline" even comes from a word in Sinhalese, a language spoken in Sri Lanka, which means "mixed gems.

Tourmalines are super cool gems that can be found in lots of different colours! They’re special because they come in almost every colour you can think of, from bright pinks to deep blues, from greens to yellows and more. It’s like a rainbow in a rock!