Tanzanite – a Purple Patch in Gemology

TANZANITE WAS CREATED when Mt Kilimanjaro erupted around 500 million years ago. This eruption set in motion a series of chemical reactions that combined with heat and pressure to allow Tanzanite to form. These conditions have remained fairly constant, and have allowed Tanzanite to continue ‘growing’ in that area.

Known to only be found in a strip of about five kilometres around the base of Mt Kilimanjaro in Northern Tanzania, Tanzanite is an amazing gemstone with unique properties. It is classed as pleochroic – meaning that when light passes through the stone it breaks into paths of different colours. Typically though, Tanzanite is trichroic, showing only three distinct colours. The colours that are most predominant in Tanzanite are violet, blue-violet and pink but the colours can range from pale blue through to deep