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Tanzanite

Tanzanite Facts

1. Tanzanite was first discovered in 1967 in Tanzania.

The gemstone was discovered by a man named Manuel De Souza, an Indian tailor who

had travelled to Tanzania to search for gemstones and gold. It is said that he was

walking through the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro when he spotted something glistening

in the ground. He deduced that the stone was too soft to be sapphire, and it was later

categorised as a variety of the mineral Zoisite.

2. It is a rich blue variety of Zoisite.

The rough form of tanzanite is a reddish-brown colour. In order to become tanzanite, the mineral must contain traces of Vanadium. The stone needs to be heated to 600˚C for 30 minutes in order to transform into the vibrant blue colour that is associated with tanzanite. The deeper the blue of the tanzanite, the more desirable and expensive it will be.

3. Tanzanite is only mined in Tanzania.The gemstone has only ever been found in the same place it was first discovered, in the Merelani Hills of Tanzania. As the stone becomes more popular, miners are having to dig deeper than 800 metres in order to find it. The mining and selling of tanzanite are regulated by the Tanzanian government to ensure it remains ethical and sustainable. Today, the mines only span around 14 square kilometres.

4. The largest rough tanzanite was found in 2020.The largest rough tanzanite ever mined was found in June 2020. A man named Saniniu Laizer discovered two tanzanite stones, one weighing 9.2kg and the other 5.8kg. Laizer earned an incredible £2.4 million from Tanzania’s mining ministry for tanzanite. He planned to use his profits to build a school and a shopping centre to aid his local community.

5. The largest carved tanzanite is named ‘L’heure Bleu’.The piece was created by Naomi Sarna and sits on a sterling silver base. It was inspired by the winds of the Great Rift Valley. Sarna travelled to the tanzanite mines where she found the 725-carat gemstone that she carved as her entry into an international design competition. Sarna taught the women in the area how to create jewellery using tanzanite so they could sell their own creations. The finished artwork won a First-Place Spectrum Award from the American Gem Trade Association. Naomi Sarna plans to donate profits from the sale of the ‘L’heure Bleu’ to the Maasai people for eye care.

6. Tanzanite is a birthstone for December.Tanzanite was made a birthstone for December by the American Gem Trade Association in 2002. It was the first alteration made to the list since 1912. This emphasises how new tanzanite is within the gemstone industry.

7. The gemstone is believed to inspire calmness, compassion,

and new life.

The Maasai tribe reside in the part of Tanzania where tanzanite is mined. The people of this tribe associate tanzanite with generating calmness and compassion. The stone is also believed to aid in the creation of new life. It is thought that these associations generate from the ideas the tribe have around the colour blue. The beliefs held about the colour blue are also associated with tanzanite due to the deep blue colour it holds.

8. Tanzanite is rarer than diamonds.Tanzanite is said to be 1000 times rarer than diamonds. This is due to the fact that it is only found in one very small area of the world. The gemstone was created millions of years ago by the same tectonic shift that created Mount Kilimanjaro and the Great Rift Valley of Tanzania. This once in a lifetime event makes tanzanite one of the world’s most sought-after gemstones. Some geologists refer to it as a ‘one generation gemstone’ as it is theorized that with continued mining, there will be no natural tanzanite left to mine within the next decade.

9. There are many theories as to who first discovered tanzanite.As with any great discovery, there are several theories as to who truly first discovered tanzanite. The most popular and feasible is the tale of Manuel De Souza. However, legend says that the gemstone was actually first discovered by the native Maasai Cattle Herders after a fire. The fire turned the brown zoisite crystals into deep blue-purple gemstones.

10. Tanzanite has a trichroism which makes it unusual.Some crystals, such as tanzanite, have trichroism. This means that the crystals exhibit a perceptible difference in colour when looked at under different lights, or from different angles. When tanzanite catches the light in different ways, it can appear blue, purple, red, or even yellow. This unusual property makes tanzanite all the more appealing for jewellers as the finished item will be incredibly eye-catching.

Tanzanite Story

Tanzanite is the blue and violet variety of the mineral zoisite (a calcium aluminium hydroxyl sorosilicate), caused by small amounts of vanadium. Tanzanite belongs to the epidote mineral group. Tanzanite is only found in Tanzania, in a very small mining area (approximately 7 km (4.3 mi) long and 2 km (1.2 mi) wide) near the Mererani Hills.

Tanzanite is noted for its remarkably strong trichroism, appearing alternately blue, violet and burgundy depending on crystal orientation. Tanzanite can also appear differently when viewed under different lighting conditions. The blues appear more evident when subjected to fluorescent light and the violet hues can be seen readily when viewed under incandescent illumination. In its rough state tanzanite is colored a reddish brown to clear, and it requires heat treatment to remove the brownish "veil" and bring out the blue violet of the stone.

The gemstone was given the name 'tanzanite' by Tiffany & Co. after Tanzania, the country in which it was discovered. The scientific name of "blue-violet zoisite" was not thought to be sufficiently consumer friendly by Tiffany's marketing department, who introduced it to the market in 1968. In 2002, the American Gem Trade Association chose tanzanite as a December birthstone, the first change to their birthstone list since 1912.

Manufacturing Process Of Tanzanite

1. Rough Tanzanite From Zoisite MineralIn its Rough form, tanzanite is extracted from blue zoisite mineral. This mineral occurs in only one country in all world- Tanzania, in the foothills of Mt Kilimanjaro.

When the rough tanzanite extracted from the ground, its hardness is around 6.5- 7. When the rough tanzanite is extracted, its properties such as color, size, clarity, and cut are determined, to indicate its worth and value. Through a dynamic processing, optical and manual sorting system, rough tanzanite is prepared for its following stages.

2. Planning & Marking Tanzanite

The most crucial task in the creation of the perfect Tanzanite gemstone, this is where tanzanite nurtured at the hands of a skilled craftsman or a jeweler. The professional plans and decides, in consultation with the concerned owners, the cut, weight and carat of a precious gemstone. Tanzanite will then determine its market value. The tanzanite is now ready to be cut.

3. Making Of Pre-FormMaking of Pre-form is a simple process by which a rough tanzanite divided into

desired marked pieces. This marking is the done perpendicularly or against the

planes that the tanzanite rough needs to be the sawn i.e. 'cut.' As the rough

tanzanite begins to get cut as per the marking process, one side of the stone is

cut with a flat surface, called the table or flat central facet on top of the stone.

The orientation for further cutting and marking stone at this stage, the stone is referred to as a pre-form, and you can see what the final shape will be.

Once the process of pre-form is completed, the tanzanite stone is sent back to the planning and marking department for checking the results of procedures and then passed on to the next process of Bruting.

4. BrutingIn the process of Bruting, Tanzanite’s girdle is formed. It is called rounding. The girdle is the surface which created around the thickest part of the stone. The stone again set in a 'dop', which is then fixed to the center of a lathe spinning at high speed. Using another tanzanite stone set in a long 'bruting stick', the corners of the rough stone are gradually rounded off until the spinning tanzanite is perfectly round at its thickest part. After this process, once again the quality check is done. If the tanzanite finds itself suitable, it moves on to the polishing department, the last of all processes.

5. Polishing

When the tanzanite is polished, it also undergoes through faceting. Polishing is the art of

giving the final touches to the tanzanite. This process also requires an enormous amount of

concentration on the part of the jeweler- craftsman, as it here that the tanzanite given its

much-required grandeur.

This step makes the tanzanite into a Faceted pieces. The last steps in

the manufacturing process of the tanzanite from where on it goes to the

grading department. The grading department is where the tanzanite

receives its grading as per the GIA standards.

COLOR1.Color depth ranges from pale to brilliant, which indicate a higher proportion of blue or violet hues.

2.If a tanzanite’s color is a deep saturated blue, then it is considered more valuable.

3.The deeper the color, the rarer and costlier the tanzanite.

4.Pale tones are more affordable.

CLARITY1.Clarity refers to any natural defect or inclusion present in the tanzanite gemstone.2.Tanzanite clarity ranges from heavily included to flawless.3.If the stone is completely flawless it is considered more valuable.

CUT1.Cut refers to various angles and proportion of finished gemstone.2.A brilliant cut has properly proportioned facets and perfect symmetry.3.Tanzanite is available in various shapes, but cushion and oval cuts are most common.

CARAT1.The carat term is used to measure a tanzanite gemstone’s weight.2.The color of tanzanite appears less saturated in smaller size.3.Tanzanite gems must be above 5 carats in weight to have fine color.

Various Of Tanzanite1.Bondi Blue Tanzanite

2.Natural Green Tanzanite

1.Bondi Blue TanzaniteBondi blue tanzanite is one of the rarest varieties of this treasured gemstone with mixed shades of blue and green.Tanzanite's incredible rarity and beauty have skyrocketed it to the highest ranks of the gemstonekingdom.

2.Natural Green Tanzanite

One of the best kept secrets of the tanzanite trade is the exceptionally rare occurrenceof fancy, colored tanzanite, like natural green tanzanite.

TANZANITE - A PRECIOUS GEMA gem is only classified as precious, if it exhibits 3 essential traits:

. beauty

. rarity

. durability

Beautiful tanzanite is durable, with Moh’s Hardness ranking of 6.5 to 7 out of 10. This single-source gemstone is more than 1000 times rarer than diamond.

Tanzanite is a prized possession in every sense.

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