Few gems glow quite like a copper-bearing tourmaline, and this autumn Paris gets a remarkable one. Bonhams has placed a Kat Florence pendant necklace set with an 81.17-carat Paraíba tourmaline at the head of its Fine Jewellery sale on October 29, 2026, with an upper estimate of €80,000 (about $89,500), Rapaport reported on October 12.
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At a glance
- Sale: Bonhams Fine Jewellery, Paris, October 29, 2026, with more than 180 lots.
- Lead lot: Kat Florence pendant necklace with an 81.17-carat cushion-cut Paraíba tourmaline in an openwork diamond mount.
- Estimate: up to €80,000 (about $89,500); the lower figure was not given in the report.
- Also offered: a 13.70-carat Sri Lankan sapphire ring by Chaumet and an 11.50-carat Madagascar sapphire ring by Cartier.
- Why it matters: a large neon-blue Paraíba at a five-figure estimate is an unusual entry point for a stone of this size.
What is going under the hammer in Paris?
The headline jewel is a pendant necklace by Kat Florence, the designer whose name has become closely tied to large Paraíba tourmalines. According to Rapaport, the 81.17-carat cushion-cut stone shows the vivid, almost luminous blue the variety is prized for, and sits in an openwork mount set with brilliant-cut diamonds. Bonhams had already signalled the necklace as the sale’s lead lot when it announced the auction the week before.
Around it, the Paris catalogue leans on signed jewels and colored stones. Rapaport lists a Chaumet ring with a 13.70-carat step-cut Sri Lankan sapphire and eight step-cut diamonds, estimated at €45,000 to €65,000, and a Cartier ring centering an 11.50-carat oval Madagascar sapphire between two pear-shaped diamonds, estimated at €40,000 to €60,000. Diamond collectors will note a 3.05-carat D-color, internally flawless emerald-cut diamond ring at €40,000 to €50,000, and a princess-cut diamond ring in a geometric onyx surround at €35,000 to €55,000.
What makes a Paraíba tourmaline so valuable?
Tourmaline comes in nearly every color, but the Paraíba variety owes its glow to copper, sometimes with manganese, inside the crystal. The result is a saturated “neon” blue to green-blue that seems lit from within, even in soft light. That effect is the whole story: the more intense and evenly distributed the color, the higher the price per carat, and clarity is judged more gently than in sapphire or diamond because inclusions are common in this material.
Size is the other great variable. Fine Paraíba tourmalines are typically found in small sizes, and stones of several carats with strong color are already scarce. An 81-carat stone puts this necklace in a rarefied size class, although, as with any gem, color quality matters as much as weight, and the full laboratory reports will tell bidders more than the carat figure alone.
Where does the name Paraíba come from?
The gem takes its name from the state of Paraíba in northeastern Brazil, where miners found copper-bearing tourmaline in the late 1980s. The first stones reached the market around 1989 and caused a sensation at the Tucson gem shows: nobody had seen tourmaline with such electric color. Brazilian output was small and soon dwindled, which is why Brazilian stones remain the most sought after today.
In the early 2000s, similar copper-bearing tourmaline was found in Nigeria and then in Mozambique, where deposits have produced larger crystals in greater quantity. The trade debated whether these should share the Paraíba name. Today, many laboratories use “Paraíba” or “Paraíba-type” as a variety name for copper-bearing tourmaline of this color, wherever it was mined, and state the geographic origin separately when they can determine it. For a collector, that origin line can make a meaningful difference to value.
With Paraíba tourmaline, color is the whole story: the gem is prized for a glow that seems lit from within.
How has Kat Florence fared at auction before?
Bonhams has offered large Kat Florence Paraíba pieces before, which gives useful context. In Hong Kong on November 28, 2024, Bonhams sold a Kat Florence pendant necklace with a 126.25-carat Paraíba-type tourmaline and 16.28 carats of pavé diamonds for HK$4,195,000 with premium. The lot page lists reports describing that stone as natural and of African (Mozambican) origin, and notes that the two laboratories differed on whether it showed signs of heating.
The Paris necklace is a smaller stone with a far lower published estimate, so the two are not a like-for-like comparison. Still, the earlier result shows that large, well-documented Paraíba jewels can draw serious bidding, and it underlines how much the paperwork matters. In our view, the Paris estimate looks measured for a stone of this weight, which may widen the field of bidders.
Why does Paris matter in the autumn jewelry calendar?
Late October sits just before Geneva’s November jewels sales, when the market’s most important diamonds and colored stones come to the block. Paris sales tend to offer a different temperament: signed French jewels, period pieces and colored stones at estimates that are more approachable than the Geneva headliners. This month has already shown appetite for signed French jewelry, with a Van Cleef & Arpels ring leading Sotheby’s Paris jewelry results, and colored stones have been central to recent sales such as the Phillips Geneva jewels auction.
For the Collector
- Price: the necklace carries an upper estimate of €80,000 (about $89,500 at the time of writing). Estimates exclude the buyer’s premium, so the final price will be higher than the hammer figure; check Bonhams’ current premium rates before bidding.
- Read the lab reports: look for confirmation that the copper content qualifies the stone as Paraíba or Paraíba-type, any stated origin (Brazil, Nigeria or Mozambique), and any comment on heating. As the 2024 Hong Kong lot showed, two labs can read treatment differently.
- What drives value: intensity and evenness of the blue, then size, then origin and treatment. A signed mount adds design value, but the stone carries most of the price.
- Wearability: tourmaline sits around 7 to 7.5 on the Mohs scale, softer than sapphire, so a pendant is a sensible format for a stone of this size.
- Resale: past auction prices do not predict future value. If you are comparing colored stones more broadly, our guide to ruby, emerald and sapphire prices and durability is a useful companion.
Frequently asked questions
When is the Bonhams Paris Fine Jewellery sale?
The sale takes place in Paris on October 29, 2026, with more than 180 lots, according to Rapaport.
What is the estimate for the Kat Florence Paraíba necklace?
The upper estimate is €80,000, or about $89,500 at the time of writing; confirm the full range with Bonhams.
What is a Paraíba tourmaline?
It is a copper-bearing tourmaline with a vivid neon blue to green-blue color, first found in Brazil’s Paraíba state in the late 1980s and later in Nigeria and Mozambique.
Does origin change the value of a Paraíba tourmaline?
Yes, Brazilian stones generally command the highest prices, though color intensity and size remain the main drivers of value.
Sources: Rapaport News · Bonhams Hong Kong, lot 616 (2024)
