Paraiba Tourmaline (Copper-bearing)

Item Description

Some of the most valuable and desirable gems in the world are "Paraiba Tourmaline". These gems are in fact copper-bearing Elbaite, but they get their name from the state in Brazil in which they were first discovered. With that said, according to a listing on mindat.org, "This material, when used as a gemstone, has been assigned a new formal commercial trade name by the Laboratory Manual Harmonization Committee (LMHC), a group of 7 gemmological laboratories worldwide - Paraíba Tourmaline, regardless of locality of occurrence". This is in reference to other discoveries of copper-bearing Tourmaline in other countries (Nigeria and Mozambique), which were using the name "Paraiba" to help increase the value, so the LMHC chose to name all of these gems "Paraiba" regardless of their origin. Interestingly, the actual copper content on this material is quite minute in the overall chemical composition of these crystals, but it makes for some of the most electric colors you'll ever see in the gem world. This "oval" cut stone is a classic example of the old material from the Batalha Mine with a bright neon aqua blue color. Now the stone is not completely clean, it does have some inclusions, but Tourmaline is classified as a Type-3 gemstone, which means that inclusions are almost always present and are accepted by dealers and collectors. If you've ever wanted to get your hands on a piece of this fantastic material, do not pass up the opportunity to snag this stone for a great price. I've seen Brazilian Paraiba Tourmalines retailing for $10,000 per carat recently, and people are buying them, and while this stone is not of the same calibre, these are some of the most coveted colored stones on the market.