Tourmaline (Copper Bearing)

Item Description

Copper-bearing Elbaite Tourmalines are only found at three world localities (Mozambique, Nigeria and the famous Paraiba district in Brazil). The Brazilian stones are the true "Paraiba Tourmaline" gems, but the stones from Mozambique and Nigeria are sometimes designated the name "Paraiba" to indicate that they are also Copper-bearing gems. These new and attractive Copper-bearing gems from Mozambique have only been on the market for a few years, and they truly have made as significant of an impact as any gem I can remember over the last 20 years or so. The Mozambique stones vary in color from blue to green to pink and occassionally purple or violet. These are naturally occurring purple Elbaite Tourmaline gems. In Tucson 2007, I saw gem dealers who were asking $12,000 per carat for these Mozambique stones. This particular gem has a beautiful almost neon bluish-green color with some slight inclusions, but it truly looks BETTER in person than the photos indicate, it was difficult to photograph. The stone has an standard "Pear" cut, and is about as rare as Elbaite gets. These stones seem to be drying up fast, and I am very confident that the price of the best of these stones will be going through the roof as the years progress. Do not miss this chance to own an incredibly hard to find Copper-bearing Tourmaline gem of a very attractive color.