Treatment/Scam Alert: Watermelon Tourmaline
A relatively new, but not brand new, fake on the market now is quartz that is cut in typical tourmaline designs and is then coated to look just like watermelon tourmaline. It is the typical CVD method used in the well known Mystic Topaz line of products. The treatment is not the problem, but that many unscrupulous vendors and dealers are selling these pieces as real watermelon tourmaline!
I’m not sure how wide spread it is, but there are also quartz crystals cut into the shape of tourmaline crystals that have been coated/treated with this same treatment and being passed off as natural watermelon tourmaline crystals! I have not had any of these in hand as of yet though.
As a side note, the manufacturers are now coating quartz in bulk, and many wholesalers and retailers have been selling these cheaper quartz gemstones as coated topaz.
So be on the lookout for these pieces! The faceted quartz and topaz faceted and coated to look like watermelon tourmaline are quite readily available and the market is full of them!