There has been a court battle going on over using the term Paraiba and whether this term must refer to the bright neony blue Tourmaline from that particular state (Paraiba) in Brasil or whether 'similarly' colored Tourmaline with similar elemental composition from other countries could indeed be called Paraiba.
My take, as owner of a gemstone business for over 28 years and having purchased some of the original Paraiba back in 1989/1990 is as follows:
I believe that the term Paraiba should refer to the material
coming from the state of Paraiba in Brasil. It has
been known to be found from one major mine, the Sao Jose da
Batalha Mine specifically, but I understand a few other
local mines occasionally have produced similar
material. Not only did this area produce the bright
vivid neon blues, but unique greens, purples, purplish blues
were produced. Heating some of these colors can
produce the neon blue. We sold a large Sapphire blue
Paraiba Tourmaline, purchased in 1989, to "Paraiba
Bob". We guaranteed that it came from this famous
locality. Paraiba Bob heated it using his proprietary
methods, and produced a bright turquoise blue, proving at
that time that the material was indeed Paraiba as we had
indicated. The value of this gemstone increased 5 fold
- wholesale.
We had another 5+ct, true green blue or blue green Paraiba
gemstone, with small inclusions throughout. We sent
this to AGTA and after paying a hefty fee, the origin report
read - Tourmaline from Paraiba, Brasil; again, we already
knew of the origin but a cert from AGTA would put all doubts
to rest. We sold this gemstone to a collector and
investor at under $1000/ct. Note that small fine neon
blue Paraiba from the original find, that is mostly clean
will sell for (or was selling for within the past 5 years),
$14,000 per carat, and that was for about a two carat stone,
possibly even smaller. We bought melee (2mm) for the
making of a championship ring for a national football team
at $1000/ct about 7 or more years ago. The prices of
the true Paraiba have always been high and only climbed once
the original source supply started to dwindle.
I also feel that the term Paraiba could be applied to those
Tourmalines coming from that state and that have an unusual
color or are of original colors that originated from the
original strike. Of course, the blue green piece that
was certed would fall into this category. Simple
everyday green tourmaline or even decent blue Tourmaline
from the state of Paraiba, could be called "Tourmaline from
Paraiba", as calling it simply Paraiba when it looks like
Tourmaline from many other localities of the world.
Calling regular Tourmaline Paraiba, would be misleading to
not only dealers but to the public which has been very
confused about the term Paraiba, and has been "taken for a
ride" by many overseas businesses claiming Paraiba if it
meant a quick sale and more money...
For those Tourmalines with bright Windex blues, neon blues,
vivid neony greens, etc. coming from Mozambique, Nigeria,
Namibia, etc. I feel they should be called Paraiba-Like
Tourmaline. This indicates color associated with the
original Paraiba strike of very bright blues and
greens. I don't believe that elemental composition
should really come into play because a Tourmaline contains
Copper or Manganese. Certs are being seen for gems
from Mozambique and other places where the gemstone contains
Copper. This would then be Cuprian Tourmaline but
business immediately call it Paraiba Tourmaline as soon as
they find out it contains Copper, since this was a
determining feature of the original Tourmaline from Paraiba
State. The pinks and purples from Mozambique
frequently contain Copper, and most people are calling them
Paraiba. Paraiba Pink? At best, they can
obviously sell it as Cuprian, as it indeeds contains Copper
and that nomenclature would be correct. All That
Glitters has many Tourmalines from Mozambique that are
Cuprian - in the blues, pinks and especially the
purples. We don't call it Paraiba; we don't call it
Paraiba-like; if not certed, we are not even calling it
Cuprian, though we know that the colors we have will cert
out as containing Copper! The funny thing is, or to
put it into perspective, the ironic thing is, that there are
neony blues and greens in Tourmaline coming from Mozambique
(and other countries) that looks as if they would contain
Copper. The stone glows and that is what one expects
from Paraiba/Paraiba-Like material, but when tested, there
is no Copper to be found! So, do you pay $1000's of
dollars more for a stone where the cert shows Copper and pay
far less for the same colored gemstone that does not contain
any Copper at all or a low percentage? Why is
one paying tens of thousands of dollars for a Copper bearing
Tourmaline when one might be able to find one that looks
exactly like the one with Copper, but actually contains no
Copper? We would sell the Tourmaline at the same
price, if they had the similar colors, regardless if it was
certed as Cuprian or not. Color is driving our
pricing, regardless of the origin or the fact that there is
Copper....
Another thing should be said - many people in the business/trade believe that all those other Paraiba wanna-bees just don't have that saturation, the intensity, that glow or that pop as a true Paraiba. They come close, but when placed side by side, many times the wanna-bees just don't match the original!
To summarize my current opinion, and opinions are rampant
out there and many people are out to cash in on the
Cuprian/Paraiba terminology:
1.) Paraiba Tourmaline should come from the state of
Paraiba, Brasil and have an intense color, such as the neon
blue people are familiar with. Bright greens also
exist.
2.) If the state of Paraiba is producing the standard
colored Tourmaline, one can just call it Tourmaline from the
state of Paraiba.
3.) Bright Neon Blue or Green Tourmaline from other
countries, whether containing Copper or not, could be called
Paraiba-Like Tourmaline.
4.) If a Tourmaline contains Copper, it would
therefore be called Cuprian, but doesn't necessarily reflect
the origin of the gemstone and doesn't immediately mean that
one calls it Paraiba. Cuprian Tourmaline comes in blue,
green, pink, magenta, purple and possibly other
colors.
5.) If one wants to begin naming gemstones not based
on their origin, but their elemental makeup, inclusions,
etc. this could become the next great debate. As labs
are starting to determine origin of gemstones, it is only a
matter of time before similar charatcteristics, inclusions,
elements, etc. that were thought to only occur in one area
of the world, start to show up in other areas. Many
gemstones had similar origins around the world while they
were growing, so this would not be unexpected. Taking
this into account, and the fact that labs want to call
Cuprian Tourmaline of bright blue, Paraiba, regardless of
the country of origin, the next step could be calling Ruby
from Africa, Burmese Ruby or Sapphire from Montana, Kashmir
Sapphire. It wouldn't surprise me one bit, if origin
reports of some gemstones from famous localities, were
mis-identified as to their country of origin because they
had similar inclusions, characterics, etc. that were
expected of that locale, but were actually from very
different origins/countries.
People, as well as many in the trade, might be confused
between Paraiba Tourmaline, Paraiba-Like Tourmaline and
Tourmaline from Paraiba, as I would like to define it, but
it is perhaps even more complicated out there in the real
world. The best bet is to trust those that one
purchases from. Our receipts indicate what one is
buying - one of our return policies is a Life Time Guarantee
policy if the item is identified as not what it was sold
for. An educated consumer is one who will benefit from
the Paraiba Dilmena.