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How to choose, clean and care for
Africa's most exotic coloured gemstones
In 1967 Manuel d'Souza, a Portuguese prospector, was led to
a deposit of blue stones by Masai tribesmen. D'Souza thought
he had stumbled across sapphire until he realised that the
material was too soft. A lab investigation revealed the stones
to be a previously unseen variety of zoisite crystals. Tanzanite
is often blue when first mined, but it can also be brown and
is then routinely heat-treated to draw out its exotic colour
permanently. A relative newcomer to the jewellery market,
tanzanite has fast become one of the most sought-after stones.
Tanzanite's appeal lies in its fantastic colour – it
looks like a 'mixture' of sapphire and amethyst. Rarely found
in a pure blue, tanzanit usually displays purple overtones.
In small amounts, it has lighter tones like lavender. Tanzanite
crystals are available naturally in yellow, golden brown,
green and blue. Only limited amounts of natural, gem-quality
tanzanite are found exclusively in Arusha, Tanzania, on Africa's
East Coast.
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