Tanzanite is a very special and unique gemstone. World-wide it occurs only in one specific location. Its blue colour which shimmers in a slightly purplish hue is magnificent indeed. Because of its unusually attractive flair it was easy for New York Jeweller Tiffany’s to make it one of the most sought-after and popular gemstones in the world.

Its name reminds of the world-wide unique occurrence in the east-African state of Tanzania. Africa – the name of this continent does not immediately remind us of gemstones. Nevertheless, Africa is a continent from where many splendid and beautiful stones find their way to the world markets. An example for this is Tanzanite, which was enthusiastically celebrated after its discovery in 1967 as "Gemstone of the 20th Century” The gemstone experts literally held their breaths when they were shown the first deep blue crystals mined in the Merelani Hills near Arusha in the north of Tanzania. Millions of years ago, metamorphous slates, gneiss stone and quarzites shaped impressive flat insular mountains on the wide planes near Mount Kilimanjaro. In the core of these unusual rises there are stored the valuable crystals. For a long time they remained hidden for the eyes of men, until one day some Massai-herdsmen passing by noticed crystals sparkling in the sun and picked them up.

Today at Merelani the popular crystals are searched for in several, usually smaller mines, to some extent by means of modern methods. Generally only smaller grains are being found, but now and then the miners strike a lucky vein and produce a larger crystal – much to the pleasure of the mine-owners and the numerous Tanzanite enthusiasts everywhere in the world.

The Tanzanite trade is managed by many, usually small-scale licensed traders who have built up good business relationships with gemstone firms in Germany, India, Israel and the USA. An estimated 90 per cent of all Tanzanite traders are registered members of the International Colored Stone Association ICA and thus dedicated to the respective high ethical standards of ICA. In this way, then this exclusive gemstone is not brought to the world markets via suspicious back-street dealers, but in spite of its rarity is distributed via reliable and trustworthy official channels to well-reputed gemstone-cutters, and then passed on to the most important jewellers all over the world.