74-75 / 160
74
75
88
PARAÍBA TOURMALINE AND
DIAMOND NECKLACE
Designed as a flexible row of fancy‒shaped diamonds,
each suspending a drop‒shaped paraíba tourmaline
to a flower design cluster of fancy‒shaped diamonds,
mounted in gold. Stamped ‘750’.
Paraíba tourmaline: 18.88 carats
Diamond: 11.8 carats
Gross weight: 33.25 grams
$ 25,715 ‒ 31,430
Rs 18,00,000 ‒ 22,00,000
T
racing their origins to the state of Paraíba in Brazil, these rare, neon‒blue stones are a
fairly recent addition to the tourmaline family. Also known as cuprian elbaite, this variety
of tourmalines gains its vibrant colour – seen in lots 88, 89 and 90 – from the presence of
copper, which illuminates them from within. The colour only manifests when the gemstone is
cut, and a higher concentration of copper results in the coveted electric blue tone.
Paraíba tourmalines were discovered in the 1980s by an ambitious and persistent gem miner
named Heitor Dimas Barbosa, who did not know what he was looking for but was convinced that
he would find something “completely different.” It took five years, but the search was eventually
rewarded – signs of a unique new tourmaline were found in the “tangle of galleries, shafts and