Paraiba Tourmaline Testing and Certification

ICA | Gemlab provides accurate and reliable testing and certification for all paraiba tourmalines. Be assured of the quality of your paraiba tourmalines by have them tested at our Thailand laboratory.

In 1988 a brilliant variety of ebaite tourmalines were discovered in Paraiba, Brazil. The color of the tourmalines was of a vivid intensity that took the gemological world by storm. The cause of their bright colors was the presence of copper, manganese, and, in some cases, a trace of bismuth.

After their discovery, other brightly colored tourmalines were also discovered in the Rio Grande Do Norte state of Brazil. These tourmalines were also considered to be, what came to be known as, paraiba tourmalines.

Some years later, in 2001, tourmalines also containing copper were discovered in Nigeria, and later, in Mozambique. These stones also contained traces of magnesium and lead and although they were, on average, not as brightly colored as the Brazilian stones, some of the colors matched.

All of these tourmalines have since been officially categorized as paraiba tourmalines by the International Gemstone Industry Laboratory Conference.

Identifying Paraiba Tourmalines by Origin

The key factor in being able to refer to a tourmaline as a paraiba tourmaline, is the presence of copper. Trace amounts of copper below a certain level are not distinguishable by a standard spectrometer. You need specialized, technologically advanced equipment to pick up the copper attributes of some paraiba tourmalines.

ICA | Gemlab has this specialized equipment. We have the technology to determine the origin of the tourmaline by the levels of copper in the sample. We can also detect the presence of the other elements that are particular to the region of origin.  

We can issue a report detailing the origin, the mineral and chemical composition, and the color grade of the stone from our laboratory in Bangkok, Thailand.

Before you buy a stone that is called a paraiba tourmaline, make sure that you’re buying the genuine article. Have us run verification testing and issue a report that will be accepted by gemologists around the world as being reliable and accurate.   

Source: https://www.icagemlab.com/en/spotlight/paraiba/