During the 1989 Tucson Mineral Jewelry Show in the United States, a curious thing happened. Within four days, the price of Paraiba rose from $ 80 a carat to $ 2,000 a carat, an increase of more than 20 times. This is a record for the fastest price increase in the gemstone industry.
International definition of Paraiba:
According to the latest definition of the LMHC Laboratory Guidelines Coordinating Committee, which includes seven authoritative laboratories such as Gubelin, SSEF, GIA, and GIT, LMHC has developed a set of guidelines for laboratory guidelines.
Paraiba is generally defined as blue, blue-green, green-blue, yellow-green, green, and other medium to high color saturations of tourmaline containing copper or manganese.
Let me explain：
1.There is no purple in this chain of colors. However, In wholesale markets, this copper or manganese-containing purple tourmaline is also called Paraiba.
What makes it different from ordinary purple tourmalines? It does not have a dark tone, and its color saturation, it is also very high, which is also very beautiful. However, purple tourmaline does not get a certificate for Paraiba tourmaline.
2. Low color saturation will not be called Paraiba color. And high color saturation will usually only indicate a “neon” rating on the certificate.
3. Contains copper or manganese tourmaline.
Origin of Paraiba:
Paraiba was first found in the Brazilian state of Paraiba, so the name was later used for this tourmaline and neon orchid. But nowadays there is very hardly any of Paraiba being produced in Brazil at present, and it can be said that it is basically extinct.
Currently, there are mostly Mozambique and Nigeria products available, Nigeria’s color is lighter and there are not many good quality products available, so this section will not cover them.
These three origins are very interesting. A few hundred million years ago, they were actually together. Later, because of continental drift, they separated, but now they are almost at the same latitude.
Which color Paraiba is the most expensive:
With so many Paraiba colors, which one is worth more?
Let’s look at two sets of data from the authority GS.
To start, we have decided to take a look at the Brazilian data, 2004-2008, for which all different colors of Paraiba were sent to the GS test. Although the period of time is somewhat long, the correlation has a certain value because it covers a wide range of colors in the background.
The most common color is greenish blue and blue with a greenish tint. There are basically no pure blues and no burnished ones.
This table contains both burnished and unfired together. From the carat size distribution map, you can see that most Brazilian origins are less than 4 carats.
In May this year, Christie’s Hong Kong auctioned two Brazilian origin Paraibas, one of which is burnt, 14.2 carats for 6.25 million Hong Kong dollars.
The other one was burnt, 2.77 carats and fetched HK$1.5 million. Both SSEFs and Gubelins were given a true blue color with no miscellaneous hues. Paraiba.
Again, most of the Mozambique colors are blue-green or green-blue, and very few are over 20 carats.
Accordingly, in Paraiba, when the color saturation and brightness are similar, the blue is the most expensive, followed by the blue with greenish tones.
Whether burnished or unburnished, and whether of Brazilian or Mozambican origin, positive blue is particularly scarce.
About having less and no burnt:
There is also the question of having burnt or no burnt, burnt is more common within Paraiba and is generally recognized internationally.
Some people may ask why Paraiba with burn is still so expensive. One reason is that this neon sensation is really beautiful and fascinating.
The other is that there are very few tourmalines that can be burnished with this neon color. Even when it does, it takes a tourmaline with a specific element to produce such stunning color.
The process of burning is much like applying makeup, if you don’t have a good embryo, you can’t turn it into a stunning beauty by just applying makeup.
Investment collection suggestions:
Paraiba’s blue color is mainly caused by copper. However, there is a strange phenomenon, the better the color, the lower the clarity. This is a little like her sister Rubellite.
As a result, the first choice should be a beautiful color, if the color is good, then the price will increase, because only high quality is scarce.
An excellent color Paraiba will generally give Neon Blue, if the cut clarity is acceptable, the appraisal body will also give Vibrant rating.
3.The color hue can be selected according to their own preferences, but from the perspective of investment and preservation of value, Blue was preferred, followed by Greenish Blue, followed by Green Blue.
4. Mozambique would be my preference if the quality were almost the same, but the price difference was significant.
Finally, I mention each kind of gemstone has its special beauty. The beauty of the diamond is mainly its sparkling bright, so the inlay will not basically seal the bottom.
The beauty of ruby is that it is rich red, so when set, we will generally use yellow claws, so the overall look will be brighter.
I think Paraiba’s beauty is mainly transparency and neon, so the faceted cut of the pavilion can bring out its advantages.
If the bottom of the pavilion can be lit when it is set, it can bring out this sense of transparency even more.
The famous sculptor Michelangelo said, in fact, the angel originally existed in the marble. I just removed the unwanted parts. Gemstones are the stars of the Milky Way spilling down into the earth, and we need to maximize their beauty!
