Mozambique paraiba prices?

[Art Nouveau]

I am considering buying a gem quality paraiba type blue/green neon tourmaline, 3 carats or bigger, eye clean. The color that I like is Windex blue with a slight tinge of green. The paraibas from Brazil are price out of my budget, so I am looking into stones from Mozambique. Does anyone have any idea what price per carat these are going for? Another consideration is there is a lawsuit going on regarding the use of the term ''paraiba'' for neon copper bearing stones from Africa. Is the outcome of the lawsuit going to affect the price of African stones? Is this a bad time to buy a Mozambique ''paraiba''? Any comments would be very much appreciated.

Thanks.

AN

 

[simplysplendid]

You are looking for the same thing as I! Unfortunately there just isn''t enough supply available for comparison on the net. I guess the best bet is to look though the listing on palagems and perhaps ask one of the vendors here for a quote. The last pretty one I saw was on paraibainternational.com.

 

[Art Nouveau]

Thank you for your response. I have looked at the websites of Palagems and Paraiba International. Pala has a few that look like what I want to buy, but I''m afraid their prices may be too high. Have you ever asked for a quote? Paraiba International has a couple of stones that I like. The price per carat is ~$7500 to $8000 per carat. Is that the going rate for a gem quality Mozambique paraiba? I have never bought a color stone on line. Are the prices negotiable? Would you expect the prices to be even higher at Pala? I have tried to find a stone at local jewelry stores, but nobody has anything to show me and cannot quote me any prices as they have never sold one. Brazilian stones are already priced out of my reach. I would like to find a nice Mozambique stone before the prices go any higher.

AN

 

[Pandora II]

Ask a jeweller to get you a quote from Pala - it''s trade only.

I have bought all my stones online and have been VERY happy with all of them. I contact the vendors and ask for help with sourcing - they''ll have more contacts and access to stock than you will find just looking.

I have stones from Pala, and they have been top notch, but they are definitely not cheap. I have never tried to negotiate on price with them.

 

[Art Nouveau]

Pandora II:

Thank you for the info. Pala has gorgeous stones on their website. I will try to get a quote from a jeweler.

AN

 

[Harriet]

Prices are all over the place for the Mozambiques. One of my dealers won''t even help me find one because he thinks they''re overpriced. ParaibaI will work with you. Ask for Adam.

 

[Art Nouveau]

Hi Harriet:

Thanks for your input. I need to do some comparison shopping. I''ll check out Paraiba International. I thought the prices of the Brazilian paraibas were crazy several years ago, and I didn''t buy one. Now even the Mozambique stones are going through the roof. I find the blue green color and the neon effect very appealing in these stones and I would really like to own one. Four years ago, when I was in South America on a cruise, H Stern showed me a couple of one carat stones. They were like turquoise neon lights. They were amazing and I have not seen any stones like those before. The asking price was $10,00 per carat. I thought the price was too high and the size was too small, so I passed. Since then, I have seen a few Brazilian and Afircan paraibas in the US, but nothing come close to what I saw in South America. Widget has a very nice Mozambique stone that I was fortunate to see in person at the SF get together last year. The prices seem to have gone up quite a bit since she bought hers.

AN

 

[Harriet]

You''re welcome. I would love a sizable one, but I think I''ll wait it out. You could also ask about the Nigerian material.

 

[Sagebrush]

AN,

Mozambique and Nigerian cuprian tourmaline sell at prices considerably below those asked for Paraiba tourmaline. When I say "Paraiba" I am referring to stones from the original mine at Sao Jose da Batalla and a few mines close to the border of Rio Grande do Norte in Brazil. I have noted that on sites like ebay many stones are represented to be Paraiba that are not.

Mozambique generally lack the intense saturation of the best of Paraiba but they often have a superior crystal and a watery quality that is unique to stones from that location. The price varies depending upon the degree of saturation and the percentage of green. All things being equal a "pure" blue hue will carry the highest premium and decrease as the percentage of green increases. Some of the best prices can be found in bluish-green to green stones. Some of the latter have a high degree of saturation and a pure green hue coupled with exceptional diaphanity.

 

[Art Nouveau]

Richard:

It is a pleasant surprise to see your post. I have your book and have enjoyed reading it and looking at the beautiful photos. Thank you for the info. For the size I want, the Brazilian paraibas are beyond my budget, so I am looking for a Mozambique stone. I have seen quite a few Nigerian stones at local gem shows and they do not have the saturation that I am after. The color I like best is actually Windex blue with a slight tinge of green and not the perfect Windex blue. So I am hoping to find one at a more affordable price.

AN

 

[Sagebrush]

AN,

My point is that very few Mozambique stones will have the saturation, hence the difference in price. Frankly I have only seen one or two. A couple of years ago a matched pair of pear shaped Mozambique cuprian stones won an AGTA Cutting Edge award. I had the two stones, they sold for over 20,000 per carat (image below).

I have a Nigerian stone that comes closer though it doesn't have the fine crystal of the Mozambique material. Since you have read my book you understand that I am using the 4 Cs of Connoisseurship, namely Color Cut, Clarity and Crystal to describe differences in the general run of fine stones from the three sources.

 

[Art Nouveau]

Richard:

Those stones look stunning. Do you recall the weight of the pair? Wow! $20,000 per carat!. The few stones that I have looked at cost considerably less, but not as nice. I saw one Mozambique stone ~5 carats today. The stone has very good crystal and is almost flawless. Seen under daylight, my first impression was not quite saturated enough. However, when I looked at it again later under incandescent light, it looked more saturated and showed more ''neon'' glow. The color looks like what I want and is quite pretty. The cut seems so so and there is a bit of ''window''. Guess I need to look at more stones. Below are quite snap shots taken indoors during the day and in the evening under incandescent light. I have not learned how to adjust the white balance of my camera yet, so the colors did not come out exactly right.

AN