Eighth Anniversary Stone: Tourmaline
The eighth wedding anniversary stone is tourmaline, which comes in every colour. Here's what it is, how it holds up to everyday wear, and how to turn it into a piece worth keeping.
Key takeaways
- The 8th anniversary stone is tourmaline, with some modern lists (like Angara's) adding tanzanite as an alternative. The traditional and modern lists largely agree on tourmaline (see the IGS list).
- Tourmaline comes in more colours than almost any other gem, from hot pink and green to blue, and even two colours in one crystal.
- It sits at 7 to 7.5 on the Mohs scale, hard enough for daily wear with a sensible setting (per the IGS durability guide).
- Because it comes in so many colours, tourmaline lets you match your partner's favourite colour or their October birthstone rather than settle for a fixed shade.
- Tanzanite, the modern alternative, is a rich violet-blue stone but noticeably softer, so it's better suited to pendants and earrings than rings.
- We design and set tourmaline by hand in our Coquitlam workshop, so an eighth-anniversary piece can be built around any colour you choose.
What is the 8th anniversary stone?
The 8th anniversary stone is tourmaline. This is one of the more agreeable years: both the traditional list and the modern one point to tourmaline, with some modern guides such as Angara's offering tanzanite as a second option. You can see the standard list on the IGS anniversary list. The good news is that tourmaline is the most flexible gift stone on the whole calendar, because it isn't one colour at all.
What tourmaline actually is
Tourmaline is a family of related minerals that show up in a wider range of colours than any other gemstone we sell. You'll find it in hot pink (often called rubellite), forest and mint green, deep blue, and warm golden and brown tones. It even grows with two colours in a single crystal, the most famous being watermelon tourmaline, which is pink in the centre and green around the rim. That colour range is the whole appeal for an anniversary gift: you can match your partner's favourite colour exactly rather than accept whatever a single-colour stone offers.
On hardness, tourmaline sits between 7 and 7.5 on the Mohs scale, according to the IGS durability guide. That's comfortably into everyday-wear territory for pendants and earrings, and fine for a ring as long as the setting protects the stone. You can compare it against other coloured stones on our gemstone guide. One practical note: tourmaline can carry internal inclusions and is sensitive to sharp heat and hard knocks, so it wants a little care in a ring, which we'll come back to.
Why tourmaline for the eighth year
Eight years in, most couples have layered up plenty of shared history, and a stone that literally contains a spread of colours is a fitting stand-in for that. We're not going to sell you folklore as fact, but tourmaline has long been associated with balance and with drawing together different qualities into one thing, which is a nice fit for a marriage that's found its rhythm. Its name comes from a Sinhalese word meaning mixed stones, a reference to the jumble of colours miners pulled out of the same ground. That mixed-colour identity is the honest reason it suits year eight so well.
Choosing a piece for your eighth anniversary
This is the year to lead with colour. Our advice is to start with a shade your partner actually wears and loves, then find the tourmaline to match, rather than starting with a stone and hoping the colour lands. A hot-pink rubellite makes a warm, romantic pendant. A blue-green tourmaline reads calm and modern. If your partner's birthday is in October, tourmaline doubles as their birthstone, so a single piece can cover both occasions, which you can read about on our October birthstone page.
For a ring, respect the hardness. At 7 to 7.5, tourmaline is fine on a finger but not indestructible, so we favour a bezel or a setting with a slightly lower profile that keeps the stone tucked in rather than exposed on tall claws. Earrings and pendants take almost no abuse, so they're the safest home for a larger, showier stone. If you're drawn to tanzanite instead, be aware it's the softer of the two options and more prone to chipping, so we'd steer it firmly toward earrings or a pendant and away from an everyday ring.
We design and set every piece by hand here in Coquitlam, and tourmaline is a stone we enjoy working with precisely because of the colour choice. Bring in a colour you love, whether it's a scarf, a photo, or your partner's eyes, and we'll source a tourmaline to match and build the piece around it. To see where year eight fits in the run of anniversaries, our anniversary stones guide covers every year, and the bespoke anniversary pieces page shows how a made-to-order commission takes shape from first sketch to finished piece.
Caring for tourmaline
Tourmaline is straightforward to look after. Clean it with warm water, mild soap and a soft brush, and skip ultrasonic and steam cleaners, since the internal inclusions some stones carry can react badly to that kind of vibration and heat. Store it away from harder stones so it doesn't get scratched, and take a ring off before heavy work in the garden or kitchen. Treated with that ordinary bit of sense, a tourmaline will stay bright for a lifetime.
Turn your eighth anniversary stone into a piece you’ll wear
Bring the year, the stone and a rough budget. Our on-site goldsmith in Coquitlam will design it with you — reset a stone you already own, or build something new around the right gem.
Prefer to talk? Call our studio at (604) 653-6449.Frequently asked questions
What is the 8th wedding anniversary stone?
Tourmaline. Both the traditional and modern lists name tourmaline for year eight, and some modern guides add tanzanite as an alternative option. Tourmaline is the more common and more flexible choice because it comes in so many colours.
What colours does tourmaline come in?
Almost every colour. Common ones include hot pink, green, blue, and golden brown, and some crystals grow with two colours at once, such as watermelon tourmaline, which is pink in the centre and green around the edge. This range is its main appeal as a gift.
Is tourmaline hard enough for an everyday ring?
Yes, with a sensible setting. Tourmaline is 7 to 7.5 on the Mohs scale, which is fine for daily wear. It's not as tough as sapphire, so a bezel or lower-profile setting that protects the stone is a good idea for a ring worn every day.
How is tanzanite different from tourmaline for an eighth anniversary?
Tanzanite is a violet-blue stone that some modern lists offer as an alternative for year eight. It's noticeably softer and more prone to chipping than tourmaline, so it's better suited to pendants and earrings than to a ring you wear daily.
Can I match tourmaline to my partner's favourite colour?
Yes, and that's the best way to buy it. Because tourmaline comes in nearly every colour, you can pick a stone to match a shade your partner already loves. We can source a tourmaline to match a colour reference you bring in.
Is tourmaline a birthstone too?
Yes, tourmaline is one of the birthstones for October. If your partner was born that month, an eighth-anniversary tourmaline piece marks both the anniversary and their birth month in one gift.
Can Vanhess make a custom eighth-anniversary tourmaline piece?
Yes. We design and set tourmaline by hand in our Coquitlam workshop and can source a stone in the exact colour you want, then build the piece around it, rather than limiting you to stock on hand.
How should I clean and store tourmaline?
Use warm water, mild soap and a soft brush. Avoid ultrasonic and steam cleaners, since heat and vibration can affect stones with internal inclusions. Store it separately from harder gems so it doesn't get scratched, and remove rings before heavy manual work.