Back in the candy store! I found some beautiful london topaze, pink sapphires, blue diamonds, alexandrite in beads (a rarity), some square cut tourmalines which I hadn't found for ever and a few Paraiba cabochons. I broke the piggy bank on a very special one, soon to become the ring of my dreams. I will be working on it this week. The price of Paraibas keeps on going up at the rate of 10%/month I've been told. I was speaking with a friend of mine who sells amazing spinels and is of course aware of the Paraiba frenzy. He said: "with the Paraiba, becoming so rare, your price shouldn't be according to what it costs but according to how much you'll have to spend on a new piece. He's right. I simply wouldn't be able to afford the gems I already have.