Paraiba tourmaline possesses a unique energy that makes designing with it both inspiring and challenging. Fortunately, Bulgari has a long-standing expertise in the art of color, incorporating a wide array of gemstones in their designs to create contrast, harmony, or simply capture attention.

“As the rising phoenix of gems, the Paraiba is an emblem of perfection and rebirth, having traveled from the heart of the Earth to illuminate the world’s most exclusive jewelery creations with its inimitable green-blue,” explains a Bulgari press release."

Paraiba tourmaline ranges in color from sea green to the highly prized neon, almost electric blue, due to copper and manganese content. Its rarity is striking—only one Paraiba is found for every 10,000 diamonds. This exclusivity led Bulgari to feature the gemstone in their inaugural Colour Journeys collection. The collection includes 17 high jewelry pieces, two Astrale cocktail watches, and two bejeweled handbags, all showcasing the brand’s signature color palettes and Roman aesthetics. It features seven cushion-shaped Paraiba stones totaling 36.81 carats, with soft blue and green hues that complement pink, red, and purple tones. Unique pairings include Paraiba with cabochon emeralds and sky blue tourmalines with red spinels. The collection also integrates tanzanites and aquamarines, creating stunning necklaces and chandelier earrings.

The rare Paraiba stone is the most prized member of the Tourmaline family and a source of pride. In recent years, neon-colored stones have surged in popularity, frequently shining in high-end jewelry by renowned maisons. What makes these gems so special and highly coveted? Belgian jeweler Jochen Leen, an expert in rare gemstones and especially Paraibas, will help us explore the details.

"These have to have lots of neon and high clarity. And top quality stones should always have an excellent cut." – Jochen Leen

The quality of a Paraiba depends heavily on its color, with the finest stones exhibiting a vivid neon blue hue with remarkable depth, enhanced by light refraction. What is the ideal color standard for a Paraiba?

The ideal colour is a personal thing. For example I prefer a green Paraibas – the greenish neons are my favourites, as well as the greenish blues. At the moment I have a 13.05 carat loupe clean Paraiba tourmaline in my collection which has the best colour of any I’ve seen. It’s still waiting to be set. – Jochen Leen

It's important to note that not all blue tourmalines qualify as Paraibas. The key factors are either their Brazilian origin or the copper content that imparts their vibrant color. Since 2000, mineral scientists have proposed new mining locations, leading to African sources—primarily Mozambique—becoming the main supplier of today’s tourmalines, with Brazilian specimens now being quite rare.

Understanding a tourmaline’s origin is crucial, as Brazilian stones are rarer and have deeper color, making them five to ten times more expensive than Mozambican ones. When prices for high-quality Paraiba tourmalines exceeded $1,000 per carat, advanced refining techniques like heating and gamma radiation were developed to enhance their appearance.

Time is intriguing; it shapes and solidifies a sense of style, revealing an evolution of ideas, inspirations, and motifs over the years. Long-established brands can evoke the past while showcasing their vision for the future. With Collezione 1967, Pomellato presents its ‘Jewellery Manifesto’ through 75 pieces, each inspired by one of three pivotal decades in its creative journey: the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Let’s explore how the Maison’s artistic signatures have been reimagined for a new generation of high jewelry enthusiasts.

Brands revisiting their archives for inspiration is common, but Pomellato’s latest high jewelry collection, Collezione 1967, is particularly bold. Described as a “revolutionary statement of creative independence,” it distills the brand’s signature silhouettes and motifs into refined, modern pieces, divided into three chapters: 1970s chains, 1980s sculptural designs, and 1990s vibrant colors. These eras shaped Pomellato’s distinctive aesthetic, and now we can explore the collection in greater detail beyond its brief Cannes appearance.

The new High Jewellery collection marks a powerful return to our roots, distilling the essence of three decades. Capturing moments that have contributed to defining Pomellato’s identity as we love it today, unconventional and unmistakable, Vincenzo Castaldo, Creative Director, Pomellato.

Pomellato's signature chunky chains originated in the 1970s, symbolizing change and rebellion. Founded by Pino Rabolini, they blend Milanese craftsmanship with disco energy, emphasizing femininity over weight.

To honor the 1980s, Pomellato reflects the decade’s love for experimentation, power dressing, and boldness with 18 pieces. The era influenced their architectural approach, seen in the striking Asimmetrico Tanzanite necklace, debuted at Cannes. It features a 55.96-carat irregular tanzanite in a custom flexible 18k gold bezel, crafted with 78 diamond-set modules that took over 700 hours. A matching ring with a 37.73-carat tanzanite completes the set.

The 1990s chapter of Collezione 1967 is the largest, with 37 pieces celebrating a decade of optimism, music, movies, and vibrant color. Reflecting a joyful, limitless era, Pomellato’s designs showcase its mastery of bold color, gemstone combinations, and innovative cuts, defining the brand’s creative identity.

Among the most extraordinary precious stones, such as the Hope Diamond, Logan Sapphire, and Alan Caplan Ruby, a new remarkable specimen has emerged: the “Ethereal Carolina Divine Paraiba” tourmaline. It has surpassed the previous record held by a tourmaline listed in the Guinness Book of Records, which weighed just over 51.77 carats.

This spectacular stone weighs exactly 191.87 carats, neither more nor less. Its size is equally impressive—36.44 mm by 33.75 mm by 21.85 mm—and it is entirely unblemished, free of visible inclusions. More than just a rare treasure, this gemstone is one of nature’s most precious gifts to mankind.

The Ethereal Carolina Divine Paraiba exhibits the same vibrant neon pale blue as the tranquil waters of Mauritius. It was likely this captivating color that inspired Moneca Kaufmann, president of Kaufmann de Suisse, to commission a gold jewelry piece that reflects the depths of the sea. The imagined underwater scene features swimming fish, crawling crabs, and resting starfish, all encrusted with 1,706 gemstones, including an 11-carat yellow diamond.

At this year's Golden Globes, one of the most captivating jewelry moments belonged to Zendaya. While she made headlines for debuting a Jessica McCormack engagement ring, her necklace was just as mesmerizing. Created by Bvlgari, this high jewelry piece, as seen on the actress, featured approximately 48 carats of diamonds. However, the true star was the stunning, lagoon-like blue-green gemstone at its center: a 31-carat oval Paraiba tourmaline.

Coloured gemstone enthusiasts surely appreciated this rare spotlight, as such moments bring hidden treasures in the gem world into the limelight. After all, celebrity style often influences trends in jewelry, highlighting exquisite details for a wider audience.

But for the uninitiated, here’s the lowdown. What we have in Paraíba tourmalines is in fact one of the rarest, most enchantingly beautiful gemstones on the planet at the moment. Rarer than diamonds, in fact, or even the big three stones of emeralds, sapphires and rubies.

Tourmalines have a long history and are generally classified as semi-precious stones. They are available in a vast spectrum of colors—black, brown, yellow, blue, green, red, pink—and even rare bi-color "watermelon" varieties featuring red and green hues.

However, none of these compare in rarity or value to the electrifying, neon blue-green of a Paraíba tourmaline, the most coveted and precious version of this gemstone.

What makes this gemstone so extraordinary is its unparalleled beauty. The classic Paraíba displays a mesmerizing blue-green hue—somewhere between cyan, turquoise, and aquamarine, reminiscent of a lagoon. Beyond its color, the most striking feature is its luminous, neon-like brightness, which seems to energize and radiate light, setting it apart from other gemstones like diamonds. This captivating effect is due to its unique mineral composition, containing trace amounts of copper and manganese, responsible for its vivid color and brilliance.

In recent years, Paraíba tourmalines have gained significant prestige among collectors and jewelers. Their value and stature soared so much that in 2024, the book Paraíba: The Legacy of a Color, co-authored by jewelry expert Katerina Perez and gemologist Kevin Ferreira, was published.

Perez offers advice for those considering investing in a Paraíba: prioritize the best color—swimming pool blue—Brazilian origin, and clarity over size. For styling purposes, opt for a larger stone, as Mozambican Paraibas tend to be cleaner and less included, and choose designs that showcase the gemstone as an integral, enhancing element of the overall piece.