You Say Paraiba, I Say Copper Rich Tourmaline

picture courtesy of colored-stone.com

Paraiba tourmaline is a relatively new variety of tourmaline which was discovered in the Federal Brazilian State of Paraiba in 1989. The exquisite blue, green color in these tourmalines is due to the presence of a high concentration of copper, an element that was never found before in a tourmaline. It can also contain manganese, which is responsible for the violet and red tones. A mixture of the two elements is responsible for the pale grey to violet-blue.

I have a strand of Paraiba Tourmaline in a raw crystal form. I really love them and made some into this necklace with pearls.Recently, beautiful blue and green copper rich tourmaline has been found in Africa. Technically, these are not Paraiba Tourmaline because they were mined in Africa and not Paraiba. There is some controversy over calling them Paraiba Tourmalines, though the gem trade is now using the term Paraiba to describe the unique color of these gems and not their place of origin. To confuse the issue even more, many experts are saying that the name Paraiba Tourmaline only pertains to the copper rich blue and green gemstone mined in Africa and that those manganese rich violet and red gems are not officially Paraiba. Funny thing though, the tourmalines actually mined in Paraiba had much of the manganese saturation and thus the red and violet color. This may sound like a silly debate, but either way you look at it, Paraiba Tourmaline is a rare, beautiful and precious gemstone.

There has been a law suit filed over the use of the name Paraiba Tourmaline. You can read more about the debate and the lawsuit on the Colored-Stone.com website.