Elbaite (var: Copper-bearing) (''Paraiba Tourmaline'') on Quartz (rare matrix specimen)

Item Description

The remarkable copper-bearing Elbaites (Tourmalines) from Paraiba, Brazil are world famous for their astoundingly intense neon color. You'll see some of the finest electric blue, green and pink hues ever seen in Tourmaline from this area. This material carries many nicknames including Copper-bearing Tourmaline, Cuprian Elbaite and simply "Paraiba Tourmaline". It should be noted that there are other copper-bearing Tourmaline deposits in a few places in the, and the Gemological Institute of America has recently ruled that all of this material can be referred to as "Paraiba Tourmaline", so you might see a piece from Mozambique with this name attached to it, which is perfectly fine now in the gem world. With that said, the original (and arguably most desirable "Paraiba Tourmaline" specimens are those from the original discovery in Brazil. This piece is a great piece of this beloved and sought after material. Most examples we've handled over the years are loose singles off matrix, so it's very exciting to have a matrix specimen to offer in the auctions. This attractive cabinet piece features a few gorgeous glowing blue (and slightly pink) color, prismatic crystals of copper-bearing Elbaite measuring up to 4.0 cm, smartly perched on massive Quartz matrix. The thickest Tourmaline crystal has an almost unreal color, just slight lighter than Windex. Like many of the crystals from the area, the crystals on this piece are not perfect, but the color combined with the fact that the Tourmalines are on matrix, more than make up for it. If you've ever wanted a great representative example of this hard to find material, then look no further. The piece is easily 40+ years old (found in the 1980s), and as we've seen over the years, very few pieces are ever available on market now.