Tanzanite

Tanzanite is the blue to violet gem variety of the mineral zoisite. It is a single-source gemstone, found only in the Merelani Hills of northern Tanzania, where it was discovered in 1967. Tanzanite is notable for its strong trichroism - showing distinct blue, violet, and burgundy-red colours when viewed from different crystallographic directions. Because the rough crystals emerge from the earth with a dominant brownish-green axis, nearly all tanzanite is gently heated to around 600�C to eliminate the brown component and lock in the blue-violet colour. This treatment is standard and is disclosed at the point of sale.

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