Opinions needed for items on ebay...

[aries2]

Hello Everyone,

Do you think this is real? I thought Pariabia Tourlamine was super rare and super expensive.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=10278&item=4969546513

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=10281&item=4969546281


Also, what does everyone think of these 2 rings? It is hard to tell the color from the pics. Which one looks like the deepest blue? Does anyone have any experience with these sellers? I get so nervous about considering buying something from ebay...but sometimes you find some nice looking stuff!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4968134433&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4969624085&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT


Thanks!!!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=10278&item=4969546513

 

[Richard M.]

Hi,

I can''t tell you where the eBay stones came from, but the sudden availability of "Paraiba" tourmaline is due to a new source: Nigeria. That''s according to a Brazilian dealer-friend I saw in Tucson who had lots of sky blue tourmalines in his case. Paraiba tourmaline contains copper, which also causes blue color in stones like turquoise, chrysocolla and others. Cuprous tourmalines are very rare but of course can come from more than one source. I haven''t seen any Nigerian stones yet that compare with the best of the original Paraiba but they may exist.

Paraiba material from the original location in Brazil is still very rare. Whether the Nigerian stones should be marketed as "Paraiba" is a question I can''t answer. It may be like "Siberian" amethyst -- descriptive of a color, not a location but time will tell. Pricing''s another qustion. I became curious when this "rare" gem appeared almost nightly on a TV gem program in Los Angeles at remarkably low prices for the type. If there''s a lot of it entering the market, prices will come down.

 

[MJO]

What the seller is saying is absolutely true. It is a Paraiba Tourmaline. There where new mines in the province of Paraiba that produce tourmaline. This NEW tourmaline does not contain copper. I had it tested. It also doesn''t have that medium deep Paraiba Glow. You have to ask the question is this tourmaline from the Mina De Bathala and does it contain a high copper content. Moest of these sellers with say they don''t know. Also most of these stones are either very dark or very included and very thinly cut leaving large windows.

 

[Richard M.]

Date: 2/22/2005 12:43:55 AM
Author: MJO
It is a Paraiba Tourmaline. There where new mines in the province of Paraiba that produce tourmaline. This NEW tourmaline does not contain copper. I had it tested.

LOL, the old Name Game. I suppose any tourmaline mined in Paraiba could legitimately be marketed as Paraiba Tourmaline no matter what the color. Now add in the question of whether the cuprous elbaites from the Edoukou Mine in Oyo, Nigeria should also be sold as "Paraiba" and you have a real brain-twister.

Here''s an interesting fact. The gem-producing geology of Brazil and Nigeria is very similar for a good reason. If you look at a globe and visualize Africa and South America joined prior to plate tectonic movement that opened the Atlantic Ocean, Nigeria and northeast Brazil were the same landmass. The same type of geologic activity that produced the cuprous Mina De Bathala tourmalines was probably responsible for those at Oyo.

Richard M.

 

[valeria101]

It looks like two chips of tourmaline got the honor to be called names for a day - sort of celebrity impersonation

They don't have the looks allright, nor the expected corresponding price... Whatever.

The first ring looks a bit "retro" to me and not in the good sense of the word. Besides style and execution, that light color briolette is just ok to play magnifying glass for the finger underneath. Perfect example for that "eye of the beholder" thing.

The second ring I almost like - it seems rather well made if anything. Perhaps the color of the HUGE oval is a bit overstated (the pictures have a blue overcast, very much alike the light blue of that piece). The presence of a reserve price comes reassuring too. If you are sure to use a ring that size, why not.

Just IMO, of course.


About "Paraiba": every now and then there's news of "Paraiba" color tourmaline found here and there - enough to get used to the predictable news break. The last such "Paraiba alarm" I know of comes from Nuristan... I know Nigeria is known for the right chemistry, but I haven't seen any attractive piece from there, unfortunately. Anyone knows the looks ?

 

[Richard M.]

Date: 2/22/2005 4:32:26 AM
Author: valeria101

About ''Paraiba'': every now and then there''s news of ''Paraiba'' color tourmaline found here and there - enough to get used to the predictable news break...I know Nigeria is known for the right chemistry, but I haven''t seen any attractive piece from there, unfortunately. Anyone knows the looks ?

Yes, I''ve heard all the hoopla about "new discoveries" but they seem to come to nothing. I''ve seen Nigerian stones on several occasions, and saw enough original Paraiba material to make the comparisons I did in a post above. One of the problems in comparing is that you''re seldom certain of the real source of the stones being evaluated.

The known Nigerian stones I saw in Tucson were a very pretty luminous robins-egg blue and were large, in the 10+ carat range. I''m told color in smaller stones is washed out. Although the color isn''t as saturated as original Paraiba, the Nigerian material has a distinct, almost electric undertone that makes it stand out from ordinary blue or green tourmaline.

Nigeria has not yet produced saturated neon colors like original Paraiba. Some describe the best ones as an intense blue like an aquamarine, but without grey. Some say they appear bluer in the sunlight and greenish-blue under incandescent lighting.

One person familiar with Nigerian goods sums it up this way: "Although not as neon as Paraiba, these exciting new colors are more vibrant than most gemstones presently on the market."