Tanzanites and Tanzanite Jewelry

A relatively new gemstone that's taken the market by storm within a short length of time since its discovery, tanzanite jewelry manifests a combined beauty of amethysts and blue sapphires. This gem was discovered in 1967. Originally a blue zoisite, Tiffany & Co renamed the stone "tanzanite", after it's birthplace Tanzania.

Zoisites are mostly available in a brown color. It was believed that tanzanites were first created by lightning strikes which caused a fire among the grassy plains near Arusha, heating the brown zoisites on the ground and transforming them into a beautiful blue. People have been heat treating this natural mineral for that magnificent color ever since. The tanzanite is now named one of the birthstones for December.

Tanzanite jewelry are available in all shades ranging from a dark, sapphire blue to light lavender. This gemstone is peculiar in the way that it displays different colors at different angles, so the shade of a finished tanzanite depends much on the cutting. Generally speaking, the bluer colored jewels are considered more valuable because more cutting is required to bring out this hue, resulting in much smaller gems from the rough. However, other colors such as lilac and periwinkle are also very popular for their light, playful elegance.

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