Paraíba tourmaline

When the material first hit the market at the Tucson Gem Shows in 1990 it captivated jewelers and collectors with its amazing neon blue and green colors never before seen in the natural gem world. 

Gemological laboratories performed complex testing on the material and discovered that it was a natural Elbaite Tourmaline- therefore a sibling of Rubellite, Indicolite and Watermelon Tourmaline. 

Elbaite is normally achromatic- meaning the crystals are colorless unless there are trace elements present in the chemical formula. 

In the case of Paraiba Tourmaline the crystals contain trace amounts of copper (sometimes alongside gold, too) that give the crystals their unique color. 

Thus the GIA and AGTA adopted a technical name of “Cuprian Elbaite Tourmaline,” though jewelers, auction houses and collectors continued to use the term Paraiba Tourmaline when discussing and selling the material.



http://www.fwcj.com/blog/whats-in-a-name-the-paraiba-tourmaline-debate/