Investment in blue –green electrifying Paraiba Tourmaline

Paraiba has great incandescent appearance and was initially found only in Brazil mines with high copper content. Tiffany & Co has been using these stones from Brazil in their jewelries and these are widely used by US jewelry brands. One such Tiffany & Co design was an earring worn by Hollywood actress Salma Hayek at a red carpet event. These stones are worth US $16,000 per carat, whilst, most such diamonds are valued in the international market in the range of US $5,000 to US $6,000 per carat.  

A-Paraiba tourmaline jewelry, containing 8.79 carat Paraiba as the main stone and a supporting diamond of 3.05 carat, in light blue color, built in 14K gold, was auctioned on July 11, 2018, for an estimated price of US $76,500 to $126,000, at Auction barn Estates, Los Angeles, US, in the special live estate auction. 

Tourmalines

Tourmalines can be found in diverse colors and variety. Some of the stones contain variation across the cross section and color can be of rainbow with a number of color combinations.  One of the varieties has triangular pattern. 
In general, tourmalines are low cost gems and some of the famous ones are lab-grown. One of the largest mining sites of such stones is in California, which was initially found by Native American. In US, some new sites have been discovered at San Diego County and Riverside.  

Demand and Market Price 

Paraiba was discovered in 1980 and was identified by the blues and green electrified colors, which were unique and sometimes, in vivid colors. These can be found in popular jewelries worn by the actresses Salma Hayek, Taylor Swift and Emily Blunt, and are very much in demand with collectors.
 
Initially, the demand for such stone as very high in Japan and the stone of 3 to 5 carats was priced over US $10,000 per carat. The market value of a multiple color tourmalines can be up to US $1000 per carat. A 5.37 carat tourmaline and 1.42 carat diamond pendant   in gold can be worth up to US $30,000.

Brazil’s Paraiba tourmaline

The mines of gem quality Paraiba tourmaline can be found in Africa and Brazil. The stones form Pegmatite, which is formed in rare temperature, pressure and humidity, within the mines of manganese (Mn) and copper (Cu).  
These expensive gemstones can be found in the North-Eastern state of Brazil, Paraiba. Parazul mines and Paraíba Tourmaline mines are some of the largest producers of such stones. 

These stones are mined by some of the poorest miners working under tough draught prone mining locations, facing risks of tunnel collapse and poor air posing severe health risks.  The mines of these colorful gemstones are widely predisposed to illegal mining, money laundering, frauds, bribing, smuggling and racketeering.   The Brazil mines are almost in depletion stage and the local government has closed almost all such mines. The supply stopped in these mines and alternative source of the gemstone have been identified in Kenya, Madagascar, Tanzania, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Burma and Mozambique.

To find out more about Paraiba Tourmaline and other gemstone auctions, markets, mining, price and sales, click Asset Class Pedia – (https://assetclasspedia.com/).