With its oceanic blue hues, Batalha Topaz is mesmerizing. The color is one that has been revered in the gemstone industry since the discovery of Paraiba Tourmaline, one of the most sought-after gems on the planet.
To bring you this beautifully colored Topaz, we have teamed up with Azotic Labs, who are the leading authority on Topaz treatments. We wanted an exclusive, flagship color for our Topaz range and to find the perfect color, we delved back into the history of one of the most exquisite gemstones of all.
Batalha, in Brazil’s Paraiba state, was home to one of the most important gemstone discoveries in history. Heitor Dimas Barbosa had nothing more than a hunch when he started digging in the Batalha hills. For seven years, he tunneled, constantly faced with the idea that what he longed to find – a brand new gemstone discovery – might not exist. Persistence paid off and in 1989, the gemstone industry was astonished when this new copper-bearing variety of Tourmaline lit up the market.
Barbosa’s passion and persistence brought us Paraiba Tourmaline, an exceptional gift of Mother Nature. In the same way, Ken Gurney and John Rylander from Azotic Labs spent ten years trying to perfect their new Topaz treatment, persisting despite knowing that they could well fail in their task. Where Paraiba was a gift from Mother Nature, their treatments are the culmination of years of scientific endeavor.
To bring this beautiful color as a Topaz treatment, we sourced a tiny parcel of high quality Paraiba Tourmaline from Barbosa’s original deposit and sent it to the Azotic Labs. This became the master stone, against which any Batalha Topaz has to be graded. We have also insisted that any Topaz undergoing this treatment has to be from Brazil. This is not only because of the quality of Brazilian Topaz, but because we also wanted there to be a link between the original source of Paraiba and our Batalha Topaz – a link between the muse and the art.
With a glorious neon blue color, Batalha Topaz is really where science meets art.
Find yours here.
