Natural Paraiba

Natural Paraiba

Paraiba gem question?

I have inherited a1.5k paraiba ring. I have been looking on the internet for info as I had never heard of a paraiba gem until now. Can a gemologist tell by looking only if it is a natural or manufactured gem? If not is there a test to determine if it is natural and from where it might have originated? What would be a fair price for an appraisal? Do all better jewelery stores have a gemologist or do I need to call around and ask stores if they have one on site?

You have many questions!

Lets address them all!

Paraiba Tourmaline-What a beautiful stone! Here's some info about where it comes from and how it was discovered:

Paraiba – the word has a particular fascination for the connoisseur, for it is the name of a gemstone with blue to green tones of extraordinary vividness. It was not discovered until very recently, that is to say in the 1981.The world has one man and his unshakable belief to thank for the discovery of this unique gemstone: Heitor Dimas Barbosa. Tirelessly, he and his assistants spent years digging in the pegmatite galleries of some modest hills in the Federal Brazilian State of Paraiba.

Normally, iron, manganese, chrome and vanadium are the elements responsible for the beautiful colouring in tourmalines. The Paraiba tourmaline is different: it owes its splendid colour to copper, an element which has never before been observed in a tourmaline. Indeed quite a fair proportion of its weight consists of copper. But scientists have discovered that it often also contains manganese.

Paraiba tourmalines are almost always quite small, since the beautiful cupriferous tourmaline crystals from the 'noble hill' in Paraiba were almost all fragments when they were discovered. Larger raw stones with a weight of over 5 grammes which had not cracked were rare, and only very few crystals had a weight exceeding 20 grammes. For that reason you are very unlikely to find a large Paraiba tourmaline at a jeweller's or gemstone merchant's - quite apart from the fact that few specialist merchants actually offer this highly esteemed gemstone rarity at all.

There is no way to destinguish a created stone from a natural stone. But there are tell-tale signs. Inclusions and imprefections in the stone may mean that its natural, but keep in mind this has almost no effect on value of the gem itself. There is no "test".

Most gem shoppes will give a rough estimate of the cost of the gem for free. Not all jewelry stores have geomologists, and even fewer are able to give you any solid info. You will need to call around.

Without seeing the stone or its condition I can give you a rough estimate of its value based on going prices- for a 1.5 Carat Paraiba Tourmaline. Depending on color, cut, and clarity- the value of your stone is aproximatly $500.00-$2,300.00 USD. That is figured for both low end and high end of the spectrum.

These stones also hail from Mozambique Africa- and they are still called paraiba tourmalines, there is no effect on price for this. The gem world is very generalized.

Hope that helps Email me with more questions!