The Show your Paraiba or Copper bearing tourmaline thread

[Acinom]

@YC has a stunning new Paraiba ring. WoW WoW WoW. An amazing stone and setting from Yvonne Raley. Is Yvonne the most popular vendor for glowy Stones?

 

[JackTrick]

I recently made friends with a gemologist at a local jewelry shop. I’ve got weird tastes, and she knows that I love looking at unique and interesting gems and that I’m making a collection of CS pinky rings. She also knew I was interested in seeing a Paraiba in real life (as I’ve only seen them in pictures or pretty weakly colored ones).

Curious what you all think of this...in the photos it comes across fairly green, but IRL was greenish-blue. It’s much smaller than a lot of the stunning work that’s been posted in this thread, but I was quite fond of it.




Brazilian. Quite clean (looked at it through a loupe). 5x3mm, 0.27 ct, $600. I was happy to finally see one in real life because I think I better understand what people mean by glow. Even in shade this looked like it was lighted.

 

[JackTrick]

(if not clear, I am definitely tempted by it. I like it on my skin tone, and the glow (to my eyes) seems legit. But I'm still quite a newbie when it comes to understanding quality/cost of paraiba)

 

[voce]

Pass at that price, imo. Quite clean but looks slightly included from your second photo down. It does have the glow we expect from paraiba, but it's quite small, and at $600 for .27 ct, that's $2222 per carat for something that's not considered top color in paraiba. The green stones are cheaper than blue. It's a nice stone but imo overpriced.

 

[JackTrick]

Pass at that price, imo. Quite clean but looks slightly included from your second photo down. It does have the glow we expect from paraiba, but it's quite small, and at $600 for .27 ct, that's $2222 per carat for something that's not considered top color in paraiba. The green stones are cheaper than blue. It's a nice stone but imo overpriced.

That is helpful information! Would you know a more expected price?

Additionally, might anyone know good places I could look? Having now seen one in real life, I think it might make a nice next project.

I had found a couple online that were more blue (and generally larger than the in-person one), but seemed much more heavily included. I’d appreciate people’s thoughts on these?

0.58 ct, $1600/ct


0.48 ct, $1000/ct


0.52 ct, $1500/ct


Posting this one because it was one of the more clear ones, and was similar to the clarity of the in-person one I saw. 0.9 ct, $4000/ct

And this one because it’s closer to the color I saw of the in-person one. 0.65 ct, $1500/ct

 

[voce]

I'd say, no more than $1000/ct.

When it comes to colored gems, colour trumps clarity. Also, the size of the gem has an effect on pricing. The larger the farm is, the rarer, hence larger gems will have a higher price per carat. The ones you've linked online are all at least twice the size of yours, and no less beautiful--to my eyes, at least.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/677360...=paraiba&ref=shop_items_search_10&pro=1&frs=1

These are more comparable to yours, I think. Green but even better clarity than yours, round cut (more expensive than ovals because more rough wasted), and a pair, and 3x the carat weight. For less money, you get two stones with more ct weight!

 

[JackTrick]

Gosh voce, thank you so much for all the insight! I think I may try looking for a bluer stone online (at a store with a generous return policy), and seeing how it stacks up.

The green ones you linked are also interesting, as it helped me see more of the full range of colors available. Please enjoy my non-scientific color-sampling diagram.


Lastttt questions. Any ideas on how to judge 'glow' from online pictures? Did the ones I link seem to have it? Also, how concerned should I be with inclusions? Or are those questions best answered by seeing the stone in real life?

 

[voce]

You should be very concerned if inclusions are large and might lead to the stone breaking. For glow, compare how saturated and how even the color is. This is assuming the same lighting, which is not always the case when you're comparing different photos. A glowy stone should be the same colour throughout and not have much of the stone's surface a much less bright colour.

 

[T L]

Included stone are almost always fracture filled these days as well. This means you cannot put them in harsh cleaning chemicals like ammonia, nor should you use an ultrasonic or steam cleaner on them.

It’s always best to see the stone IRL, but out of the ones you linked, the top elongated oval looks “dead” to me. I think the price is really expensive for the quality, especially on that one.

 

[MJO]

I recently made friends with a gemologist at a local jewelry shop. I’ve got weird tastes, and she knows that I love looking at unique and interesting gems and that I’m making a collection of CS pinky rings. She also knew I was interested in seeing a Paraiba in real life (as I’ve only seen them in pictures or pretty weakly colored ones).

Curious what you all think of this...in the photos it comes across fairly green, but IRL was greenish-blue. It’s much smaller than a lot of the stunning work that’s been posted in this thread, but I was quite fond of it.




Brazilian. Quite clean (looked at it through a loupe). 5x3mm, 0.27 ct, $600. I was happy to finally see one in real life because I think I better understand what people mean by glow. Even in shade this looked like it was lighted.

I found that Brazilian Greenish Blue Paraiba look more green in photo's. Did it look bluer to you in person? Also when a small stone is magnified like this the inclusions are much more noticeable than in real life. To me IF it looks a bright, close to eye clean and caribbean ocean bluish turquoise in real life the price is not ridiculously high.

 

[JackTrick]

I found that Brazilian Greenish Blue Paraiba look more green in photo's. Did it look bluer to you in person? Also when a small stone is magnified like this the inclusions are much more noticeable than in real life. To me IF it looks a bright, close to eye clean and caribbean ocean bluish turquoise in real life the price is not ridiculously high.

Yes, it was definitely bluer in real life. Although I’d probably be more inclined to call it green-blue rather than blue-green, and fairly eye clean (as far as I could tell).

 

[MJO]

Greenish blue is bluer than bluish green. Most Real Brazilian Paraiba Tourmaline have slight I visible inclusions. I have owned many over the years.

 

[MJO]

This is a pair of 4.04 CTW Brazilian Stones I stupidly sold about 12 years ago for $18,000

 

[MJO]

A 2.52 Ct Mozambique I sold for $5,500 about 10 years ago

 

[MJO]

14.69 CTW Purple Mozambique.

 

[MJO]

30.13 Ct Purple Mozambique

 

[MJO]

31.95 Ct Mozambique after I had Gene Flanigan of Precision Heat the a Purple Violet stone

 

[arkieb1]

I bought this 3+ carat copper bearing windex green paraiba tourmaline and returned it. Call me crazy but I didn't see enough of a difference between it and a regular nice green tourmaline to keep it (but it was still pretty). Inside my house;

 

[Acinom]

A beautiful ring in the making. A great mock-up for @Rfisher ‘s ring. Support her during the waiting process: https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/setting-for-paraiba-tourmaline.250530/page-2

 

[Rfisher]

Oh I wish! @Acinom
That lovely stone (and hand!) belongs to @distracts

 

[JackTrick]

Hello again paraiba thread! I've continued to explore the world of these little treasures with the goal of making a ring. I recognize these might not be top tier, but they fit the size/budget I was looking into.

Currently looking at these three.

(left to right)

1. Greenish blue, faceted, included, bit of a window (7 x 4.3 x 2.4)
2. Blue, pyramid cabochon, included. (5.5 x 5.5 x 2.
3. Blueish green, faceted, fairly clear (5 x 3 x ?), this I had posted earlier.

In the glaring light of day.


Video of the three:
https://i.imgur.com/GAPijKL.mp4

Video of the three on hand:
https://i.imgur.com/118eCyq.mp4

And on the hand in various lightings.


Additional images here, including close-ups of each of the three, here.
https://imgur.com/a/wckHMCE

Curious to know other people's thoughts.

 

[T L]

One rule of thumb when purchasing paraiba is that it should look glowy and neon in all lighting, not just bright sunlight, JMO.

 

[Acinom]

In normal lighting I prefer the clean stone, though it’s not very Paraiba-like.
In bright sunlight I like all three. Nice glow. Which stone do your eyes prefer in reality?

 

[voce]

I think your small one is too clean, it's actually my least favorite of the bunch since in all three of your pictures, less than half the stone glows, although the others are 100% lit. I've heard it said that Brazilian paraibas are special because there is actually the element gold (Au) in the crystal, and this may help with the glow. Stones that are too clean just lose the glow below a tipping point. I can't help but feel that you've overpaid for the little one, if you did end up paying $600 as the jeweler had asked.

 

[doberman]

A 2.52 Ct Mozambique I sold for $5,500 about 10 years ago

How can you live with yourself?

 

[voce]

How can you live with yourself?

Would you say the same thing had he held a stock that increase in value five-fold after five years?

My answer would be: easy. How could I possibly know what something is worth five years later? Fortune telling is for those that believe in the occult.

 

[doberman]

Would you say the same thing had he held a stock that increase in value five-fold after five years?

My answer would be: easy. How could I possibly know what something is worth five years later? Fortune telling is for those that believe in the occult.

Well basically I'm just making a joke since the poster alluded to regretting selling some stones. I dont have an MBA so I'm not about to criticize someone's stock portfolio.

 

[JackTrick]

One rule of thumb when purchasing paraiba is that it should look glowy and neon in all lighting, not just bright sunlight, JMO.

This is a good pointer! Adding that to my internal checklist, including one I saw from a previous thread of, “almost looks like it’s fake.”

I think your small one is too clean, it's actually my least favorite of the bunch since in all three of your pictures, less than half the stone glows, although the others are 100% lit. I've heard it said that Brazilian paraibas are special because there is actually the element gold (Au) in the crystal, and this may help with the glow. Stones that are too clean just lose the glow below a tipping point. I can't help but feel that you've overpaid for the little one, if you did end up paying $600 as the jeweler had asked.

I ended up talking the green one’s price with a few other people. Yvonne Raley actually was a tremendous help and answered a bunch of my questions. Feelings were that the price was not entirely outside the realm of reason (based partially on its clarity, which some people favored). Regardless, when I went to grab it I haggled down the price to a reasonable (to me) amount.

In normal lighting I prefer the clean stone, though it’s not very Paraiba-like.

In bright sunlight I like all three. Nice glow. Which stone do your eyes prefer in reality?

Good question! Here’s my thoughts as I got them.

*receives the green one*

“Well, it sure looks different from the other paraiba I saw in the thread. But gosh it has a fascinating light to it.” *puts it with my other loose stones* “Oh wow. It stands out quite a bit.”

*receives the blue green faceted one*

“Ohh. So this is more the blue that people were talking about. Pretty. Window/shallowness gives it some dimension, but makes it a bit harder to catch the light. Not as lively in low light.

*receives the blue cab*

“Oh wow. Okay, so I was wrong. _This_ is actually more the blue people were talking about. I didn’t expect to like a cab so much.”

So to answer your question of which stone my eyes prefer in reality…I think I’m split between the green one and the blue cab. The other one ended up being more middle of the road (although its length x width dimensions were nice).

Green one is definitely not traditional paraiba, but it has some personality and liveliness to it that I find incredibly charming. It seemed to be the brightest in low light (although its full body doesn’t light at once). The cab is a much more startling blue, and I think it’s shape helps it light up easier than the blue green faceted (which is flatter). Watching it turn on like a beacon in sunlight was delightful.

 

[Arkteia]

Thank you for this thread!

I have a tiny paraiba, pretty clean, but the photo was made in poor light conditions (I was thinking of a bypass ring with a red spinel, they are of equal sizes). It is blue IRL. Just a dim yellow light

 

[Arkteia]

This is a heated cuprian. Inclusions, but no oil. I know it is far from perfect, but was cheap. Especially for the size. Next to a garnet.

(I must have had a vampire in my family line, I love evenings and artificial light, lol.)