"ETTERNAL AURORA" ATTEMPT FOR WORLD'S BIGGEST CUT NATURAL PARAIBA WITH GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) May 10, 2008 -- ATTEMPT FOR THE GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS
FOR WORLD’S BIGGEST CUT ALL NATURAL PARAIBA

Paraiba? Isn’t that a place in Brazil? Yes, it is – and it is also the name of the world’s rarest precious stones in the world of gemology. Mined in Mina da Batalha in the Federal State of Brazilian Paraiba, these gems are small, rare and precious.

Paraiba is a derivative of tourmaline. Tourmaline becomes paraiba (copper bearing) tourmaline when it contains copper which gives it the radiant neon-like colors of fascinating turquoise, peacock, emerald green, sapphire blue, indigo and even bluish violet. In some cases, there have even been traces of gold found in paraiba tourmaline. When faceted, these cupriferous gemstones give an ethereal and scintillating glow of fire even in the faintest light as light rays is doubly refracted by the gemstone.

How precious is the paraiba tourmaline gemstone? There is only 1 paraiba to 10,000 diamonds mined! After many years of mining in the pegmatite mines of some of the modest hills of Paraiba, Heitor Dimos Barbosa finally found the Queen of all gemstones – paraiba tourmaline – in 1989 in a dilapidated open cast mine measuring 400 x 200 x 65m in size, on the “noble hills” of Paraiba state after 8 years of persistent and faithful excavation works.

Measuring at 7 to7.5 on the mohs scale of hardness, paraiba tourmaline is a substantially hard stone. The gemstones are dichroic i.e. the color changes when seen from different angles and this color tone and intensity vary from stone to stone, thereby influencing the cut of each stone. Only an extremely skilled master craftsman would know how to bring out the best of the stone’s light and such masters are far and few in between.

The mohs scale of hardness is named after a German mineralogist Friedrich Mohs (1773-1839) who used 10 readily available minerals, ranging from 1 for talc to 10 for diamonds, to formulate this arbitrary scale. Other minerals on the mohs scale of 7 are quartz and hardened steel files while platinum is 4 to 4.5 on the mohs scale, 5 for iron and 6 for titanium.

While diamonds may be “harvested” in “roundish clumps”- the most extraordinary of which is the 45.22 carat blue Hope Diamond - paraiba tourmaline have been found only in small rectangular blocks. The stones are usually broken and fragmented when found. Larger whole and uncracked stones of over 5gm were very occasionally found and it was even rarer to discover any stones over 20gm.

Or so it was, the world believed, until at a press conference held on Friday May 2nd that Grand Tang revealed the world’s biggest single piece of cut natural paraiba tourmaline. Named “Eternal Aurora”, this 51.77 carat clear turquoise 32-facet paraiba tourmaline certainly takes the breathe of anyone who looks at it. Exuding an aura of its own and glowing with a fiery electric turquoise even when in the darkness, “Eternal Aurora” from Grand Tang, an elite precious gem jeweler, is attempting for the World’s Biggest Natural Cut Paraiba Tourmaline with the Guinness World Records™. This 51.77 carat paraiba has been certified by GIA – Gemological Institute of America as “Natural Elbaite Tourmaline” and “Paraiba Tourmaline”.

A black lacquer pen was placed next to the awesome “Eternal Aurora” for comparison and surreal bluish rays were seen reflected on the black lacquer. Other smaller stones of 1, 3, 5 and 7 carats were also placed in the showcase for comparison.

Two independent and reputable witnesses – Miss Evelyn Feng from Taipei Orphans Welfare Association & Mrs. Louise Bystrom, the Editor of “This Month in Taiwan”, were both present to be witnesses to this humongous treasure’s record attempt press release. Also present at the very exclusive press conference were 2 other staff of both TOWA and TMiT as well as members of the various local press.

Both Miss Feng and Mrs. Byström signed the Guinness World Records ™ attempt application forms as well as submitted their own respective statements to confirm witnessing this record attempt event. Mrs. Byström expressed her honor to witness this record attempt event while Miss Feng said it is “one-in-a-lifetime” experience to witness a treasure of such size close up.

When asked how much “Eternal Aurora” is worth, Mr. Andy Huang, Chief Executive Officer of Grand Tang modestly replied, “Well, take the price 1-carat D-color IF diamond and the price of a 5-carat diamond of the same ilk. You do not simply multiply the 1-carat price by 5. Nor do you take the price of the 5-carat diamond and the price of, say a 50-carat diamond as a multiple of 10.” A single carat of the best of elite turquoise colored paraiba tourmaline is said to be in the 5-figure US dollar range and the price of this very rare gemstone is escalating as it increasingly becomes the most sought after and treasured gemstones in the world.

Mr. Huang also expressed Grand Tang’s honor of attempting the Guinness World Records ™ with the “Eternal Aurora” – the world’s largest natural cut flawless transparent neon blue paraiba tourmaline. Grand Tang focuses exclusively on highest quality paraiba tourmaline worldwide. Its team of highly skilled designers and craftsmen and an exclusive collection of GIA certified elite paraiba tourmalines makes Grand Tang (www.grandtang.com) the first jeweler in the world that provides the crème de la crème of the world’s elites with a distinguished and exclusive custom-designed paraiba tourmaline jewelery.

Guinness World Records ™ itself is a record breaker. The first publication was on August 27, 1955 after Sir Hugh Beaver, then the Managing Director of Guinness Brewery became involved in an argument during a shooting party in 1951. He and his shooting mates had started arguing about which was the fastest game bird in Europe – was it the golden plover or the grouse when he realized that a book supplying answers to questions of this sort might prove to be a best seller. Since then Guinness Book of Records ™ has become a household name and a leader in world records. With sales of more than 100 million copies in 100 different countries in 24 countries, Guinness Book of Records™ itself is the world’s best selling book.

This Month in Taiwan (thismonthintaiwan.com) has been founded since 1974 (published by China Commercial Service Inc.) is a household name and favorite amongst the tourists and newcomers to Taiwan. 40,000 copies of this bilingual magazine, sponsored by its advertisers are distributed free of charge at airports, places of interests, hotels and restaurants. Plans are in progress to double the monthly distribution over the next year.

Taipei Orphans’ Welfare Association (orphan.org.tw), founded in 1968, is aimed at promoting the welfare of orphans in Taipei and all over Taiwan. It also aims at educating the populace on the suffering and trauma of local orphans and to awaken the public realization to the help that orphans need. The Association provides long term assistance in character building and spiritual development of orphaned children.