Paraiba Tourmaline (Cuprian)

Unknown Owner

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This is a genuine matrix gem crystal of paraiba-tourmaline, from the original discovery of 1989. These are unique in the world for the natural color caused by minute amounts of copper, and other trace minerals within. This is the only locality in the world where the color is truly windex-blue in nature, and this first pocket remains the classic find for all mineral collectors (although a few later finds trickled to market, generally with varying lesser degrees of cuprian copper content and a more typical crystal formation style than this slightly etched habit). This specimen is complete all around and is a full-sized thumbnail of competitive quality, from what is literally one of the rarest and most legendary gem crystal discoveries. Over decades, we have only seen a handful of these for sale of any size or quality. The photos speak for themselves, it is a HOLY GRAIL of gem collectors. In the 1990s this was in the Irv Brown collection, resold, and now back with me (memorable enough, that it was easy to remember!). These are literally nonexistent on the market except when major older collections come up, and even then, few had one. I first saw this example in the 1990s, and remembered it well (I have now owned it twice since).