Phillips leads June jewels sale with five rare Paraíba tourmalines
Five Paraíba tourmalines will anchor Phillips’ June jewels sale, led by a 31.77-carat Mozambique ring estimated at up to $650,000.
Birthstones are at their best when they feel personal, not preset, and Paraíba tourmaline has become the October stone that proves the point. Phillips will lead its New York Jewels auction with five rare Paraíba lots, headed by a 31.77-carat Mozambique ring estimated at $550,000 to $650,000 and a 5.86-carat Brazilian pendant estimated at $200,000 to $300,000. Taken together, the group points to how this blue-green tourmaline now prices itself not just by beauty, but by origin, size, saturation and the kind of mounting that turns a loose gem into a finished jewel.
The auction is scheduled for 10 June at 12 p.m. ET, with public viewings running from 5 to 9 June at 432 Park Avenue in New York. Phillips has placed the Paraíba pieces among the session’s top 13 lots, alongside important diamonds, signed jewels from houses such as Harry Winston, Cartier and David Webb, and other high-end property from the estate of Tina Hills and the collection of Irma Nicolas. The signal is clear: in this sale, colored stones are not the side story. They are the market’s center of gravity.
Paraíba’s price premium comes from a narrow set of factors that collectors know by heart. The stone was first discovered in Brazil in the late 1980s, then later found in Nigeria and Mozambique. GIA says Brazilian Paraíba tourmalines are typically more highly valued than African stones, while copper, often with manganese, is what gives the gem its electric blue-to-green color. In practice, that means the most saturated material, especially from Brazil, can command the steepest prices, even when the stone is smaller. Phillips’ 5.86-carat Brazilian pendant, for instance, sits well below the 31.77-carat ring in size, but its estimate still reaches into six figures because origin and color remain decisive. A 9.30-carat ring is pegged at $80,000 to $120,000, while a pair of Paraíba and diamond earrings of about 14 total carats carries a $60,000 to $80,000 estimate.
That spread also shows why setting matters. Rings and pendants showcase a stone differently, and diamond accents can sharpen the color without overwhelming it. Paraíba rough is often fractured, so large, faceted stones are scarce, which is why even a Mozambique gem of 31.77 carats can sit at the top of the sale. Recent auction results have only reinforced the point, from a 7.04-carat Brazilian stone that brought more than $26,700 per carat to a 5.44-carat heated Brazilian ring that sold for $533,900. Paraíba has become the blue-chip corner of the tourmaline market, and the rest of the family now reads as the more accessible way in.
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