Why the Paraiba tourmaline is jewellery’s rising star, stealing the spotlight from traditional gems – and luxury brands from Dior to Bulgari are rushing to capture its neon-blue allure
Discovered in Brazil in the 80s, these stones are bringing new colour to high jewellery collections
In September a cushion-shaped 5.44-carat Paraiba tourmaline ring flew past its US$60,000 upper estimate in auction at Bonhams New York to sell for US$533,900. This is bidding territory more commonly associated with fine diamonds, rubies and emeralds, but these neon-turquoise Paraiba tourmalines are now up there jostling with the world’s finest gemstones.
Remarkably – unlike its peers, which have been accessible for millennia – the Paraiba tourmaline was only discovered in the late 1980s in the Brazilian state of Paraiba, hence the name. Its ascent in popularity and value within the jewellery world has been nothing short of extraordinary.
Today, gems known as Paraiba tourmalines come from Nigeria or Mozambique, as well as Brazil. Electrifying examples feature in many current high jewellery collections and are especially popular with luxury houses known for their use of colour.
Bulgari’s Aeterna collection showcases five pear-shaped Paraiba tourmalines in a mosaic necklace with turquoises, emeralds, pavé-set diamonds, onyx and mother-of-pearl. Pomellato’s striking Barocco necklace combines a large free-form Paraiba tourmaline centrepiece in a kaleidoscope of hues courtesy of aquamarines, tsavorites, tanzanites and mandarin garnets, while exotic diamond birds pluck at egg-like Paraiba tourmalines on a ring and necklace in the fairy-tale Diorama & Diorigami collection from Dior.
In Boghossian’s Palace Voyages high jewellery collection, inspired by the palaces of the Silk Road, are stunning earrings and a necklace of electrifying turquoise Paraiba tourmalines. Designed by the Swiss jeweller’s Hong Kong-based creative director Edmond Chin, the suite is a masterpiece, with large pear-shaped Paraibas from Mozambique and cabochons from Brazil.
“What excites me most about Paraiba tourmalines is their distinctive neon or electric greenish-blue colour, which is unique among gemstones,” said Chin. “This is accompanied by a high refractive index, which results in a remarkable lustre.” As a result, “It felt natural to incorporate a set featuring Paraiba in Palace Voyages. In particular, the Brazilian Paraibas – with their rare, intense, neon-bright glow – are incredibly captivating.”
The history of this rare stone is documented in Paraiba: The Legacy of a Color, written by Kevin Ferreira, a gemologist and specialist in this specific tourmaline through his family’s involvement in mining the gem in Brazil and Africa, and Katerina Perez, a jewellery journalist and influencer.
The pair chronicle the ascent of this rising star against the rarity of new gemstone discoveries. In the 20th century, kunzite, tanzanite and Paraiba tourmalines were the most notable finds, but the scarcity, vibrancy and demand for the latter have seen its value rise quickly ever since.
With the Paraiba prized for its lagoon blue colour – the vivacious hue a result of trace elements of copper and manganese – rather than its clarity, prices reached US$2,000 per carat at shows when the gem was introduced. Only small deposits were discovered in Brazil in the 1980s though, and by 1998 the price had reached US$50,000 per carat. Today, smaller stones are still being found there but most of the resource has been depleted.