Natural Tanzanite Gemstones Guide

Natural Tanzanite Gemstones - The Complete Guide

Tanzanite is one of the world's most distinctive colored gemstones. Its combination of blue, violet and blue-violet hues, together with its exceptionally limited geographic source, makes it highly desirable among collectors and jewelry enthusiasts.

What Is Tanzanite?

Tanzanite is the blue-to-violet variety of zoisite. One of its most fascinating characteristics is pleochroism, meaning the gemstone can display different colors when viewed from different directions.

Where Is Tanzanite Found?

Natural tanzanite is associated with the Merelani area of northern Tanzania, near Mount Kilimanjaro. This extremely limited geographic occurrence contributes significantly to its rarity.

Tanzanite Color

Fine tanzanite is often prized for vivid blue to blue-violet color with strong saturation.

Because of pleochroism, cutting orientation can have a major effect on the face-up appearance of the finished gemstone.

How to Choose Tanzanite

When evaluating a tanzanite, consider:

• Color
• Saturation
• Clarity
• Cut
• Carat weight
• Treatment
• Documentation

Larger stones can often show stronger color, but size alone does not determine quality.

Natural and Treated Tanzanite

Most tanzanite on the market has been heat treated to produce or enhance the blue-violet colors associated with the gemstone.

Treatment disclosure is therefore an important part of buying tanzanite.

Is Tanzanite Durable?

Tanzanite ranks approximately 6–7 on the Mohs scale and has fair to poor toughness, including cleavage that makes it more vulnerable to hard impacts.

This does not prevent it from being used in jewelry, but rings should receive additional protection.

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