Tanzanite and Tanzanite Rings
Investing in Gemstones

Recently, more and more people start to invest in gold and silver.  The rush for investing in gemstones has yet to start.

Abacus Consulting Services, with its long term vision and its practice of running ahead of the curve and mass investors, would like to bring you attention the possible investment opportunities in tanzanite and tanzanite rings.

Tanzanite - General Introduction

Tanzanite is the blue/purple gemstone discovered in the Meralani Hills of northern Tanzania in 1967, near the city of Arusha.  Tanzanite is noted for its remarkably strong trichroism, appearing alternately sapphire blue, violet, and sage-green depending on crystal orientation.

Places where Tanzanite is mined: Merelani Hills (Mererani), Umba Valley, Lelatema Mts, Arusha Region, Tanzania

Read more about Tanzanite

Tanzanite's Story

Tanzania is a country rich in folklore and legend. At the time of tanzanite's discovery, local Maasai communities wove bold and colorful stories around the creation of this exceptional stone. They told that the land was set ablaze by a bolt of lightning, and that the heat from this magic 'fire from the sky' transformed crystals on the ground into shimmering blue-violet gems.

When the last cinders dissolved into the earth and the thick smoke settled, awestruck tribesmen filled their pouches with the mystical stones, intuitively knowing that these jewels would bring a better life.

Mystical Origins

The actual discovery of tanzanite remains something of a mystery. Although there are numerous versions, it is not known for certain who found the first crystal. The most widely accredited narrative suggests that in July of 1967, Ali Juuyawatu, a local Maasai tribesman, found a piece of translucent crystal near Mount Kilimanjaro. Fascinated by its blue-violet hue, he shared his find with Manuel D'Souza, a tailor by profession and prospector by passion, who was looking for rubies in the region.

Believing the find to be vibrant sapphire, D'Souza had no idea he had stumbled on an entirely new specimen. Gemological tests revealed that the crystal had a composition more complex than sapphire, and that its color was more intriguing, more alluring, and more exotic than any other gemstone.

Tanzania to Tiffany's

Word about the remarkable discovery in Tanzania soon reached celebrated New York jewelers, Tiffany & Co., gemological pioneers since the late 19th century. At that time, Henry B Platt, great grandson of Louis Comfort Tiffany, and later president and chairman, was working with Tiffany's President, Walter Hoving, shaping and directing jewelry collections.

Awed by the stone's exquisite beauty, Platt named it 'tanzanite' after its country of origin, and launched it at Tiffany's in October 1968, remarking that it was undoubtedly 'the most beautiful blue stone discovered in over 2 000 years'.

Tiffany's initiated the first tanzanite advertising campaign, declaring that tanzanite could be found in only two places on earth - Tanzania and Tiffany's.

Tanzanite's Rarity

'1000 times rarer than diamonds'
Tanzanite is a rare and precious gemstone variety of the mineral zoisite.

While zoisite itself occurs widely, the random presence of vanadium in the same vicinity under exacting geological conditions more than 585 million years ago created the ideal environment for tanzanite’s conception. Tanzanite’s formation is so rare that it has been described as being ‘more astounding than the stone itself’.

Found only in Tanzania

The world’s only known source of tanzanite occurs beneath the sweeping grasslands in the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro in northern Tanzania, East Africa. Spawned during the Pan-African Event, when massive geological activity ripped Africa from India and set Asia adrift from North America, tanzanite’s geology is so unique that it has been described as a geological phenomenon.

Indeed, experts maintain that the chance of tanzanite occurring elsewhere in the world is one in a million.

Just one generation

This geology is rendered even more phenomenal by the fact that the source is limited to a single generation. Those fortunate enough to already own tanzanite, and those who acquire it in the next decade or so will be the only first-time owners. Thereafter, tanzanite will become a precious heirloom.

Tanzanite, the Birthstone

In 2002, the American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) selected tanzanite as the December birthstone, adding it to a list of birthstones unchanged since 1912.

Despite its official status, tanzanite is regarded as the birthstone, irrespective of the month, as the celebration of new life and new beginnings.

Besides being recognized as the birthstone, tanzanite will, because of its limited availability, become the gemstone of just one generation, adding to its appeal as an heirloom, to be handed down to future generations.

This growing tradition has its roots is Maasai custom, which upholds the color blue as sacred and spiritual. According to Maasai folklore, only women blessed with fertility, with the miracle of new life, have the honor of wearing blue beads and fabric.

Since the discovery of tanzanite, a new tradition has evolved whereby Maasai chiefs give tanzanite to their wives on the birth of a baby to bestow upon the child a healthy, positive and prosperous life.