SE002, 8x6mm Paraiba Topaz, 925 Sterling and 50 similar items

Stone Type _________________ Paraiba Topaz Approximate Stone Size _______ 8x6mm Approximate Stone Weight _____ 3 ct Jewelry Metal _______________ Solid .925 Sterling Silver Our Warranty _______________ A full year on workmanship Our Guarantee _____________ Totally unconditional 30 day guarantee ______________________________________________________________________ Back in 1989, a new color of tourmaline was discovered in the state of Paraiba, Brazil. A breathtaking neon blue/green/teal color, this rare gem was sold for as much as $15,000 per carat. It was rare, it was gorgeous, it was intense, and now, it's pretty much gone. There are small pockets of this color of tourmaline being mined still in Paraiba, and even Nigeria and Madagascar, but they're small, heavily occluded and pretty darned expensive. So what is Paraiba Topaz? For starters, let me make it abundantly clear that this topaz is merely a look-alike of the Paraiba Tourmaline. The topaz is natural, in that it was mined from the ground, but it has been enhanced. Back in the late '90's, early '00's, a small company in California was working on a method of treating Topaz to make it look like London Blue Topaz, but without the expense of having it treated at a nuclear reactor, etc... They would bake a chemical of some kind right into the skin of the topaz using extremely high heat and pressure. The problem was, the stones kept turning out too green. One bright soul observed it looked a lot like the Paraiba Tourmaline, and Voila!... a market was created for their "Too green for London Blue Topaz experiment". We are using the term "Paraiba" as a unique color descriptor, because no other term would describe the color nor relate to the natural stone better. A really cool color, there's nothing really like it. These stones are set into a sturdy 4 prong basket. We cast our own mountings and will never use flimsy "snap tight" stuff... It allows the most show of stone for the least expense in silver. It's a good stable setting that doesn't set you back a month just to get one. ______________________________________________________________________ BTW, Since we make this from scratch after you order it, we have a lot of flexibility. We can also make this for you in either 14k yellow gold or 14k white gold. Email us and let us know what you're interested in, and we'll give you the best price we can live with. We enjoy a strong repeat business, and keep it by making good jewelry you'll want to wear at prices that we both can live with.