Tourmaline Paraiba: description, properties and uses

Paraiba tourmaline gained extraordinary popularity in the last decades of the 20th century. Among the variety of minerals, including stones of red, pink, purple and other colors, blue has become the most demanded nanocrystal. It glows from the inside, shimmers with blue, greenish with turquoise hues, has no equal in beauty and is highly valued among jewelers all over the world. Our article is dedicated to this amazing stone.

One Brazilian miner (miner) named Heitor Dimos Barbosa has been searching for gems and gems for a long time in the hills of the Paraiba state of Brazil. He was quite sure that he would be lucky enough to find the minerals that would make him famous and glorify his native region throughout the world. In an old quarry, between 1980 and 1987, he and his team dug a huge number of holes, but without success.

In 1989, a team of Barbosa prospectors discovered large tourmaline deposits in cylindrical formations. They lay along the local rivulet. Heitor Barbosa himself could not see this find, as he was struck by a fatal illness and soon died suddenly. The noble mineral was named Paraiba tourmaline by the name of the area where it was discovered.

In the fall of the same year, the most beautiful blue nanocrystal was presented at an exhibition in the USA (Arizona), where it became a sensation. The event lasted for 4 days. During this period, the price of Paraiba tourmaline increased from 300 to 2 thousand dollars per carat. The nanocrystal received the highest rating from specialists in gemstones, it was assigned to the tourmaline group and ranked among precious stones.

Today, only very wealthy people can afford to buy jewelry with natural Brazilian Paraiba tourmaline, since the price of a carat is 5-10, and sometimes 20 thousand dollars.

The peculiarity of Paraiba tourmaline is its unusual color. The chemical composition of a nanocrystal is very complex; it contains gold particles.

Among the large number of tourmaline stones, it is the Paraiba that has become a precious gem for this reason. The presence of copper, manganese and magnesium in the composition served as the basis for the exquisite turquoise hue of tourmaline. Copper components provide crystal saturation with turquoise, blue, blue tones.

It is simply impossible to take your eyes off the magnificent blue Paraiba tourmaline. Its radiance strikes the eye not only in the daytime, but also in the evening. The color scheme ranges from deep blue to greenish neon. The sun's rays penetrating a nanocrystal are capable of increasing its brilliance many times over.

Currently, the Brazilian Paraiba tourmaline is considered the most mysterious of the gems and the rarest gem. Tourmalines from Brazil are much more valuable than crystals brought from Africa and other regions of the world. Usually the size of the stone does not exceed 7-8 carats, however, there were finds of more impressive sizes. The popularity of the handsome Paraiba is increasing every year, and with it its price is growing.

After mining at Paraiba, a tourmaline with an unusual crystalline glow was discovered in another Brazilian state - Rio Grande do Norte. After 7-8 years, the stones were found in Africa, and a little later in Magadascar. The last modern deposit of unique tourmaline was Nigeria. It was there that the mining of tourmalines, completely identical to Brazilian stones, began.

According to scientists, the identical composition of the crystals is due to the fact that they were once in the bowels of the same continent, which subsequently split. The rift divided the land into continents, and with them the places of occurrence of gems identical in composition changed.

A huge number of people consider Paraiba tourmaline to be the most beautiful and delicate stone on the planet. The play of its colors in the sun makes it possible to compare the nanocrystal with the purest turquoise sea water or the blue sky. Among gemologists, tourmaline of a blue or blue hue is valued much higher than a stone of green or purple.

Experts attribute a number of medicinal and even esoteric properties to the Paraiba crystal with a powerful neon glow:

• it is considered that jewelry with blue tourmaline has a beneficial effect on the central nervous system of a person, his thoughts, mood;
• the stone stimulates the digestive tract, helps restore disturbed metabolism;
• contributes to the acquisition of peace of mind, a state of harmony and self-confidence.

Esotericists attribute blue tourmaline to the stones of the spiritual spectrum. They are convinced that the precious nanocrystal protects its owner from negative energy, the evil eye, purifies the aura and improves health. According to astrologers, a person wearing a talisman with tourmaline from Paraiba will be able to find something that others will not be able to do.

Charms with blue tourmaline are recommended to be washed with running water from time to time to remove any negative accumulated on them.

After the Paraiba stone was included in the catalog of precious materials, it became very popular among jewelers all over the world. They learned to process and use it very high quality in the manufacture of various jewelry. Most of all, gemologists sought to artificially ennoble various crystals, passing them off later as natural precious Paraibian tourmalines. Only by means of chemical analysis will specialists be able to distinguish original stones from skillfully made fakes.

Various methods were used to influence the mineral. The crystals were heated to high temperatures in an attempt to enhance the delicate light blue tone, but there was no neon glow. Any impact on tourmaline affected only the outer crystalline layers, so none of the jewelers could achieve that very beauty and sparkle of the stone, no matter how hard they tried. Only the blue precious Paraiba tourmaline is capable of emitting unusual neon light.

You can wear it in different jewelry, but jewelers prefer to insert it into rings, necklaces, pendants. Any products with this expensive nanocrystal are classified as elite jewelry. Platinum, white and yellow gold are used as frames. Diamonds complement jewelry. It is recommended to wear products with blue tourmaline in the evening, it is believed that at this time of day the optical parameters of the stone are activated in the best way.

To minimize possible scratches and wear and tear, each individual piece of jewelry should be stored in a soft cloth or similar packaging away from sunlight. If the products are left in the open sun, then the power of the crystal will weaken over time. The stone may begin to fade, or even begin to collapse from the inside.

Tourmaline jewelry is best cleaned with warm water and a thick microfiber cloth or other soft material. The stone must not be cleaned with any chemical means, and the possibility of contact of a noble gem with fire should not be allowed.

Paraiba tourmaline can be worn by both sexes of any age category. Paraiba tourmaline jewelry is not recommended for those with thyroid disease or severe heart problems. The unique blue stone is suitable for people who often experience stressful situations, whose type of activity requires a lot of energy.

The mineral will be a stimulant to restore strength and give the owner confidence in the implementation of any of his endeavors. Tourmaline should be worn by those looking for a life partner.

All these nanocrystals are considered to be stones that patronize lovers, and the blue gem from Paraiba is the stone of Venus, the planet of love and romance.

The Venusian energy of Paraiba tourmaline makes your entire being shine with beauty and splendor, like a neon light.

Like all blue or bluish stones, Paraiba tourmaline is a great ally for writers, teachers, scientists, speakers, and consultants. The combination of blue and turquoise tones of the crystal gives the owner of this stone the ability to evoke sympathy, his mental abilities increase, allowing him to find the right words in a given situation in order to support someone in a crisis and help him recover.

Blue tourmaline can be worn by representatives of all signs of the zodiac, it does not come into conflict with any of them, however, it is best to purchase jewelry with a Paraiba gemstone impressionable and emotional natures to restore balance of strength and inner comfort. The gem is most suitable for people born under the signs of Libra, Aquarius, Cancer, Pisces and Scorpio.

A small video review of Paraiba tourmaline is provided in the video below.