Tanzanite is one of the results of a chemical compound
called zoisite, composed of calcium, aluminium and silicate.
In rough, it tends to be a greenish, brown colour with
ruby inclusions gemstone but through heat treatment yields a fascinating array
of blue, purple and violet tones.
Some of this gemstone appeared from time to time in
the Arusha mining stores, usually brought by the Maasai nomads. The legend was
that a massive lightning fire swept through the hills of Merelani, crushing the
earth and inflicting a process of accidental heat. Maasai herders who keep
cattle in the area found beautiful specimens of blue, lilac-coloured stones and
collected the first specimens.
It was in the late ’60s that Manuel de Sousa, a
Portuguese Goan native, discover it. But it was Henry B. Platt, vice
president and director of Tiffany’s in New York, who baptized it and made
tanzanite experienced a surge of popularity in the United States. Tiffany used
it in its jewellery, presented it to the market and promoted it.
A precious gemstone, especially for its colour and
rarity, as it is 10,000 times rarer than the Diamond.
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