October in Pink: The Surprisingly Dramatic Story of Tourmaline

October 06, 2026

October has arrived, which means it's time to turn Faye pink. 🩷

Last month we started The Faye Stone Files with Sapphire—deep blue, royal, classic and a little serious.

October couldn't be more different.

Its stone is colorful, romantic and slightly unpredictable. And once I started digging into its history, I realized Pink Tourmaline has a much more dramatic past than its pretty pink color suggests.

There are mistaken emeralds, an Empress with a serious gemstone obsession, California mines, Imperial China—and even a stone that can literally develop an electrical charge.

So yes, there's quite a bit to talk about.

Welcome to:

THE FAYE STONE FILES
02 — PINK TOURMALINE 🩷

First Things First: October Actually Gets Two Birthstones

October babies are lucky.

Both Opal and Tourmaline are recognized as October birthstones, with tourmaline being the newer addition to the birthstone tradition.

For Faye, I chose Pink Tourmaline.

Partly because of its traditional association with love and compassion.

But mostly?

Look at that pink.

Sometimes jewelry doesn't need a more complicated explanation.

Faye Pink Tourmaline — October's turn to Find Your Stone.

SHOP THE FAYE PINK TOURMALINE RING →

 

The Empress Who Couldn't Get Enough Pink Tourmaline

Now for my favorite part.

At the turn of the 20th century, Empress Dowager Cixi of China developed quite an affection for pink and red tourmaline.

And by "affection," I don't mean she owned a nice ring.

Her demand helped create an entire gemstone trade between Southern California and Imperial China.

California had begun producing beautiful pink and red tourmaline from mines around San Diego County. Cixi loved the material, and huge quantities were shipped across the Pacific to China, where craftsmen carved the stones into jewelry, decorative objects and snuff bottles.

According to GIA, San Diego mines sent approximately 120 tons of gem rubellite to Imperial China between 1902 and 1910.

Think about that for a second.

Tons.

Of pink tourmaline.

For an Empress who really liked pink.

Cixi died in 1908. The Qing dynasty fell a few years later.

And the California tourmaline industry had become so dependent on Chinese demand that when that market disappeared, the boom essentially went with it. GIA notes that large-scale production at California's Himalaya mine stopped as the Chinese market collapsed.

That might be my favorite Faye Stone File story so far.

One woman's taste in jewelry helped fuel a mining industry on the other side of the world.

Tourmaline Spent Centuries Pretending to Be Other Gemstones

Tourmaline has another identity problem.

For centuries, people didn't actually realize it was tourmaline.

Its extraordinary range of colors meant it was repeatedly mistaken for other precious stones.

In the 1500s, green tourmaline found in Brazil was mistaken for emerald. And one famous red stone long considered a ruby—the “Caesar's Ruby” associated with Russian crown jewels—is actually red tourmaline.

It wasn't until the development of modern mineralogy that tourmaline was properly recognized as its own distinct gem material.

Which brings us to another interesting fact.

Pink Isn't Even Close to Tourmaline's Only Color

If Sapphire gave us blue, Tourmaline basically said:

I'll take everything.

Tourmaline has one of the widest color ranges of any gemstone species.

Pink.

Red.

Green.

Blue.

Yellow.

Purple.

And sometimes several colors appear inside the same crystal.

That's where the famous Watermelon Tourmaline comes from—a crystal that can show green around the outside and pink toward the center.

Nature apparently enjoys color blocking too.

 

And Then It Gets… Electric

This might be the strangest Tourmaline fact.

Tourmaline can become electrically charged when heated.

It is pyroelectric—and it can also develop charge when subjected to mechanical pressure because of its piezoelectric properties.

So October didn't just get a pretty pink birthstone.

October got an electrically charged pink birthstone with an imperial Chinese backstory.

September Sapphire suddenly seems very well behaved.

What Does Pink Tourmaline Traditionally Symbolize?

Pink Tourmaline has traditionally become associated with:

LOVE · COMPASSION · GENTLENESS · EMOTIONAL CONNECTION

As always with the Stone Files, these are traditional gemstone beliefs and symbolism, rather than claims that wearing a gemstone will magically change how you feel.

Putting on something pink has improved my mood on more than one occasion.

GIA notes that pink tourmaline has traditionally been associated with love, compassion and gentleness.

And that makes it an interesting birthstone even if October isn't your month.

How I'd Wear Pink Tourmaline

Pink can go wrong very quickly if there's too much happening around it.

So I'd keep everything else simple.

Pink Tourmaline + White
Probably my favorite. Clean and modern, with the stone providing the color.

Pink Tourmaline + Denim
Much more casual. Easy everyday jewelry.

Pink Tourmaline + Black
A little unexpected and makes the pink stand out.

Pink + Gold
This is really where Faye shines. The warmth of gold against that little flash of pink just works.

And then, of course, there's stacking.

Your Ring Stack Can Tell a Story

This was one of the ideas behind Faye from the beginning.

Your own birthstone is only one possibility.

Stack your birthstone + your partner's.

Your children's birthstones.

Your mother and daughter's.

Your best friend's.

An important anniversary month.

Or forget the sentimental explanation completely and put together three colors that look amazing.

October + September?

Pink Tourmaline + Sapphire.

🩷 + 💙

I wouldn't argue with that combination.

Meet the October Faye

The Faye design stays intentionally small and simple: a tiny 2 × 4 mm horizontal baguette set into a slim band.

The idea isn't for the stone to overwhelm your hand.

It's that tiny flash of color you notice when it catches the light.

The October version brings Faye into a completely different mood from September's deep Sapphire blue.

Softer.

Warmer.

A little playful.

Very pink.

SHOP FAYE PINK TOURMALINE →

 

Choose Your Month. Or Choose Your Color.

If you've been following Faye since Sapphire, you already know my rule:

There aren't really any rules.

Wear Pink Tourmaline because you were born in October.

Wear it because someone you love was.

Wear it because you like its traditional symbolism.

Or wear it because you looked at thirteen Faye rings and immediately pointed at the pink one.

That counts.

Next Month, We're Going Golden

September was blue.

October turned pink.

And November is going somewhere completely different.

Warm, golden and almost like a little piece of sunshine:

Citrine. 💛

We'll dig into its history, the strange things people once believed about it, where that golden color comes from—and why Citrine has developed such a reputation for optimism and abundance.

Until then…

FAYE — FIND YOUR STONE.

SHOP PINK TOURMALINE →

EXPLORE THE FULL FAYE COLLECTION →

 

THE FAYE STONE FILES

01 — Sapphire — September ✓
02 — Pink Tourmaline — October ✓
03 — Citrine — November
04 — Tanzanite — December
05 — Arizona Turquoise — December
06 — Garnet — January
07 — Amethyst — February
08 — Aquamarine — March
09 — White Topaz — April
10 — Green Agate — May
11 — Rainbow Moonstone — June
12 — Ruby — July
13 — Peridot — August

Next: 03 — Citrine 💛

 

 

 

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