The initial Paraíba boom did not last. The original Brazilian mines neared exhaustion around 1992, a few years after the gemstone’s discovery. But by that point, demand had already surged for the stones, which are typically small and weigh under one carat; reports from the time noted that tourmaline prices shot up ten percent following the discovery of Paraíba. Larger Paraíbas are extraordinarily rare and command staggering prices, as a decent proportion of their weight is usually shed during the cutting process so that they might retain their hypersaturated blue-green hue.

In 2001, newer deposits of tourmaline were found in Nigeria and Mozambique. Although the stones mined from Africa contain similar chemical “neon” properties as their South American counterparts, they tend to be larger and more “watery” in appearance, as Young describes. Young says that the increased availability of tourmalines allowed more collectors to enter the market at a lower price point. Stones from Africa and South America are both dubbed Paraíba-type tourmaline, but those sourced from Brazil, where they were discovered in Paraíba states, are priced at a premium given their rarity—that’s why, for serious collectors, gemmological certification and provenance are paramount.

Tourmaline’s scarcity, coupled with the challenge of finding large, clean stones with the preferred colour saturation, is precisely why the market has evolved “from a local commodity to an international investment asset,” explains Young.

True Paraíba tourmalines are unlike any other gemstone. Here are notable characteristics that collectors seek out when it comes to tourmalines:

• The stone’s vivid colour, an almost neon blue, turquoise, or blue-green, is the “single most important factor” in distinguishing a tourmaline, Young says. He describes the ideal colour as that of Windex cleaner or an “electric turquoise.”
  
• Collectors look for high saturation, indicative of a light-scattering effect caused by the interaction of copper and manganese in the stone’s chemical composition.
  
• Transparency and clarity. Paraíba tourmalines contain high concentrations of copper, but the most valuable stones tend to look “eye-clean—meaning it has no inclusions visible to the naked eye—while maintaining that signature neon intensity,” Young says.
  
• Size and quality of cut. Brazilian Paraíbas are practically always on the smaller side, one carat or less. Young says that stones sourced from Brazil, even more modest ones, will “almost always be more valuable than a five-carat” African stone so long as they have an extraordinary neon colour and high levels of saturation.
  
• Absence of heat treatment is also a highly coveted factor when considering Paraíba tourmalines.
  
• Provenance and reputable gemmological certification. In the Paraíba world, Brazilian provenance carries a premium, given how rare it is to find there. As Young puts it: “For top-tier collectors, the geographic source is non-negotiable.”

Heat treatment is frequently used to rid copper-bearing tourmalines of modifiers, or purple or brown hues that distort the more desirable blue-green neon colour of Paraíba. Young estimates that roughly 95% of all tourmalines are heated to improve their appearance. Although heating is not necessarily a deal breaker within the tourmaline market, Paraíba that have not undergone a heat treatment, meaning their highly saturated colours are totally natural, represent “the absolute pinnacle of rarity [for collectors],” Young says.

The market for Paraíba tourmaline has undergone a tremendous shift in the last ten years, and what was once a highly coveted gemstone is now a bona fide blue-chip investment. Recent auction trends show that Paraíba tourmalines have routinely outperformed rubies, sapphires, and emeralds, and are now rivalling the popularity of high-quality coloured diamonds. The market for Paraíba only continues to surge: Young says that within the last two years, an uptick at “estimate-crushing” at auction—meaning that prized no-heat lots with exceptional colour and saturation will sell for three to ten times their pre-sale high estimates—has caused huge competition between luxury auction houses and private collectors seeking out Paraíba tourmalines.

But among ultra-high-net-worth collectors, top-tier, untreated, and vivid Paraíba stones from Brazil are becoming “core components of elite portfolios” rather than just traditional assets, Young says. “Recent sales reinforce that the market has entered an era of absolute scarcity. Because the original Brazilian mines are long exhausted, every appearance of a fine, large-format Brazilian stone is treated by the market as a finite, non-replaceable asset.”

Besides their glistening neon colour, provenance, and absence of heat treatment, museum-quality Paraíba tourmalines have several key features. According to Young, collectors should look out for stones that “exhibit the unmistakable internal ‘glow’ driven by copper, appearing vivid and saturated even in low-light environments.” Collectors should take care to ensure that the gemstone is accompanied by an official lab report by a respected agency, such as AGL, GIA, Gübelin, and SSEF, that can track its precise provenance. Additionally, an advanced trace-element analysis can help serious collectors discern whether their Paraíba hails from Brazil or Africa, which will also have a substantial effect on its overall value.

For collectors, the allure of Paraíba ultimately lies in what cannot be replicated: an extraordinary natural colour, a finite geological source and the rarity of finding a stone that possesses all the qualities that define a truly exceptional gem.