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Tanzanite only found in Tanzania

Stunning beauty

Tanzanite is an incredibly beautiful gemstone that derives it's stunning appearance from it's remarkably strong Trichroic properties, that is it shows alternately three different colours, blue, violet and red depending on the angle from which it is viewed. However all Tanzanite that is cut for commercial purposes is heat treated thus tending to fix the colour bringing out the best. Generally the best quality and cut of Tanzanite is a deep intense violet bluish colour.


Created by fire and earth

The fact is that it is actually a form of Zoisite and in it's untreated form is a dull greyish brown in colour that in order to release it's almost unrivalled natural beauty is heated to 500 degrees Centigrade. The heat treatment needed is why it was never discovered until a lightning strike caused a bush fire that naturally heated the rough Zoisite bringing forth the amazing stone we know as Tanzanite much to the delight and amazement of the Maasai tribesmen. Tanzanite was first presented to Tiffany and co and introduced to the world in 1969, 2 years after its discovery. They named it Tanzanite as a tribute to the country of its origin and because it is said to reflect the beauty of a classic Tanzanian night.

Tiffany and co then launched a huge marketing campaign that created the phenomenon that has the taken the gem world by storm.

As beautiful as Sapphire

It is so beautiful that it is often mistaken for Kashmir Sapphire (itself now so rare). Due to its late discovery and its incredible properties it is the only gemstone to have been added to the official birthstone list by the American Gem Society since 1912 and is now a birthstone for December along with Turquoise and Zircon.

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Hardness

It has a hardness of 6.5 on the Moh (hardness) scale which makes it a softer stone requiring more care. This is another reason for its increasing rarity as it is often broken in the mining and cutting processes thus making it hard to get out of the ground in larger sizes. This in turn is increasingly along with the fact that it is only found in the one area and is getting harder to find, pushing up the prices of the heavier, cut goods. Another development was that in June of 2003 in order to protect their own cutting industry, the Tanzanian government introduced legislation banning the export of unprocessed tanzanite over the weight of 1 carat. Adding a burden to the already great demand of heavier goods.

NOTE: A word of caution with regards to the use and care of Tanzanite, Tanzanite is quite fragile; it has hardness of 6.5 on the Moh scale. To put this in perspective, compare Tanzanite to Sapphire which has hardness of 9.

Tanzanite is also very brittle. For this reason, be very gentle with this exotic gem. Never use ultrasonic cleaners to clean jewellery with Tanzanite. There has been a  plan to market the rare gem as a stone one would give a child at birth, to celebrate new life. Something that the Maasai tribesmen already do.

Price

The price of Tanzanite has obviously risen due to the ratio of supply and demand (and can only continue to do so) with high grades of Tanzanite selling for as much as US$1500.00 per carat. Like most other gems, when the carat weight of a tanzanite increases, its price per carat goes up. It is still possible however to buy top quality Tanzanite for around the US$1200.00 mark in the smaller sizes such as 3 to 5 carat.

Tanzanite has been available in the world since the late 1960�s and has become one of the most coveted precious gems on the planet.

In 1997, Tanzanite was lifted to an all time high when it featured in the movie Titanic, which starred Leonardo Di Caprio and Kate Winslet as the ill-fated lovers of the infamous ship�s doomed maiden voyage - "Titanic is Sinking". Actress Kate Winslet (Rose) donned a stunning heart shaped Tanzanite pendant surrounded with diamonds named the �Heart of the Ocean.�