Description
A trillion-cut Paraíba tourmaline of 10.59 carats, held on three claws above a band worked entirely in diamonds. The stone is the reason for the ring: copper-bearing tourmaline produces a blue-green found in no other gem, a colour that reads as lit from within rather than reflected, and this one is large enough to carry that colour across the whole width of the hand.
The setting is built to serve it. Two rows of tapered baguettes run down each shoulder, laid so they narrow away from the centre and draw a clean bright line towards the finger. Round brilliants pavé the outer edges of the band and the gallery beneath. The white metal is left plain where it meets the stone, so nothing warm interrupts the blue.
The tourmaline has been examined twice. ICA GemLab reported on the loose stone in January 2018: natural tourmaline, natural Paraíba, 10.59 carats, trillion, modified brilliant/fancy cut, consistent with material from Mozambique. GIA examined the finished ring in September 2022 and reached the same conclusion on origin — Mozambique — describing the centre as a transparent greenish blue triangular modified brilliant, set among near-colourless round brilliants and baguettes. GIA notes that copper- and manganese-bearing tourmaline of this kind may be called Paraíba in the trade: the name comes from the Brazilian locality where the material was first found, but is now applied to stones from several sources.
