Barrett
Ideal_Rock
- Joined
- May 26, 2009
- Messages
- 2,218
Tourmaline Lover and Loving Diamonds I defer to when it comes to paraibas. Like Chrono insinuated, there are paraibas and then there are PARAIBAS. First let me say that copper in tourmalines is not as rare as I used to think. It's actually found in more places than you would think. In at least 3 other Brazilian mines, other than Batlaha, mulungu, and alto dos quintos. It's found in tourmalines in Namibia from a certain mine(remember ebay seller with cuprians from namibia..we will get to that later) and many a other place around the world. They were even detecting copper in tourmalines 50 years before the Batalha strike. Warner (1935), Carobbi and Pieruccini (1946, 1947), and Staatz (1955)..all 4 mentioned or found amounts of copper in tourmaline but none found or related it to color(a chromophore). What made paraibas from Batalha take eht world by storm was the amount of copper in them which also acted as the coloring chromophore. When TL or LD mentiones the Brazilian paraibas they speak the truth as nothing comes anywhere close to the Batalha mine finds and you really have not seen a paraiba until you have seen a "heitorite". Reason being the CU content of those was anywhere from 1.6%-2.56% by weight(numbers are close but off the top of my head). Even the two other Brazilian paraiba deposits the Mulungu and the alto dos Quintos averaged only .60% by weight(once again numbers are close)..thats anywhere from 3-4 times less copper by weight than the Batalha(heitorite) finds. Thats the same with Nigerian and Mozambique material. Even the best Mozam material never approaches the Batalha Heitor mine material. You have never seen a paraiba until you have laid eyes on a Batalha paraiba.
Ld says "True Paraiba Tourmalines (ones that fit the criteria above) are severely lacking in the market place. If you find a good one, please be prepared that you will find it has an incredibly high price tag." This is exactly correct. Cuprians are a dime a dozen in the market place. If not for the finds in Batalha the Paraiba/cuprian tourmalines would just be a footnote in gem history. Many a tourmaline has copper in it but not many have suffcient amounts to give you that whopping glow/neon quality. Thta ebay seller from another thread that had cuprians labeled from Namibia..copper is found in tourmalines from namibia but none have copper than acts as a chromophore..ie. "trace amount".
She also says "I've seen hundreds of examples of stones marketed as "Paraiba" where in actual fact they're just very nice Cuprians." Also correct. Nice cuprians are a dime a dozen like I said above. You have to have a significant amount of copper to make it go BAM. I now believe that labs are adding fuel to the frenzy by detecting trace amount of copper in stones and labeling them cuprian/paraiba which technically is true but the amounts are so little(by weight) that either the copper is not acting as a chromophore or it's acting on the color in such little amounts. I also believe that many a paraiba/cuprian buyer thinks they see the "glow"/"neon" when they get there cuprian as I have seen it time and time again. They buy a paraiba and asume it has the glow/neon when in fact it's all in there head(my opinion as of late
). I would wager 90% have under <.05% copper content.
It's pretty much a once in a lifetime opportunity to buy a real deal blow your socks off true paraiba tourmaline..one that screams color. They are very rare and very expensive.
I believe the purples should be called purples and not paraibas. Purple is rare in itself and the Mn+3 acts as a damper to the Cu so negates any glow/neon. I am sure if enough copper is present then the purples can indeed glow but I don't know if i have ever seen one. They just look like purple tourmalines from any other location that produces purples does.
Until you have seen a Batalha mine paraiba you have never seen a "paraiba" They say to see the glow/neon the stone has to be cut. Well, the rough from the Heitor trends was just as neon/glowy as the cut stones. The crystals themselves glowed. I have yet to see any mozambique material( polished alluvial) that showed neon/glowy qualities in the rough. The bottom 2 pics that chrono posted(Lembeck and above) are what they should look like.
So tanzi, don't be suckered in by the name. Make sure and see them in person. If they are good or worth it you will know..they will look like what TL usually says...an internal battery is inside them
Ld says "True Paraiba Tourmalines (ones that fit the criteria above) are severely lacking in the market place. If you find a good one, please be prepared that you will find it has an incredibly high price tag." This is exactly correct. Cuprians are a dime a dozen in the market place. If not for the finds in Batalha the Paraiba/cuprian tourmalines would just be a footnote in gem history. Many a tourmaline has copper in it but not many have suffcient amounts to give you that whopping glow/neon quality. Thta ebay seller from another thread that had cuprians labeled from Namibia..copper is found in tourmalines from namibia but none have copper than acts as a chromophore..ie. "trace amount".
She also says "I've seen hundreds of examples of stones marketed as "Paraiba" where in actual fact they're just very nice Cuprians." Also correct. Nice cuprians are a dime a dozen like I said above. You have to have a significant amount of copper to make it go BAM. I now believe that labs are adding fuel to the frenzy by detecting trace amount of copper in stones and labeling them cuprian/paraiba which technically is true but the amounts are so little(by weight) that either the copper is not acting as a chromophore or it's acting on the color in such little amounts. I also believe that many a paraiba/cuprian buyer thinks they see the "glow"/"neon" when they get there cuprian as I have seen it time and time again. They buy a paraiba and asume it has the glow/neon when in fact it's all in there head(my opinion as of late
). I would wager 90% have under <.05% copper content. It's pretty much a once in a lifetime opportunity to buy a real deal blow your socks off true paraiba tourmaline..one that screams color. They are very rare and very expensive.
I believe the purples should be called purples and not paraibas. Purple is rare in itself and the Mn+3 acts as a damper to the Cu so negates any glow/neon. I am sure if enough copper is present then the purples can indeed glow but I don't know if i have ever seen one. They just look like purple tourmalines from any other location that produces purples does.
Until you have seen a Batalha mine paraiba you have never seen a "paraiba" They say to see the glow/neon the stone has to be cut. Well, the rough from the Heitor trends was just as neon/glowy as the cut stones. The crystals themselves glowed. I have yet to see any mozambique material( polished alluvial) that showed neon/glowy qualities in the rough. The bottom 2 pics that chrono posted(Lembeck and above) are what they should look like.
So tanzi, don't be suckered in by the name. Make sure and see them in person. If they are good or worth it you will know..they will look like what TL usually says...an internal battery is inside them
Thank you for your kind words and I couldn't agree with you more. The purple ones I've seen (and own) do glow but I'd be hard pressed to say they were neon. More like a really lovely example of purple Tourmaline with a bit of ooomph thrown in! Certainly, they do look good in dim lighting (and have a mini internal light) but it's not like the neon Paraibas that have a full chandelier going on!
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