Tanzanite — a stone given to the world by the Massai

 History and origin

The mineral tanzanite or blue zoisite has two stories about the appearance of nuggets on the market. They only agree on one thing — they discovered the stone in 1967 near Kilimanjaro. The origin of the gem is due to rock pressure and high temperatures during the collision at this point of the two continents 580 million years ago. And the name is the country of discovery, Tanzania.

Engagement ring

A more common version of the story claims that the first copies of the stone were found by a prospector from Portugal, Manuel de Souzo. In the East African state, a man was led to search for rubies. He wandered around the country with an expedition from the local Maasai tribe, until he came across a nondescript brown-purple stone on the Merelani plateau. Manuel took the find for a sapphire, but after checking it turned out to be a kind of zoisite far from jewelry.

Another version of the story attributes the discovery of the mineral tanzanite to the shepherd of the aforementioned tribe, Ali Juyawati. He found the nugget after a fire on the plateau, when the fire destroyed the top layer of soil. Ali took the find to de Souzo, but the ruby merchant thought it was useless.

For the next year, the mysterious tanzanite stone remained on the margins of the industry, and then he was lucky. The gem was appreciated by the Vice President of Tiffany. The jewelry house threw all its efforts to gain a monopoly on the market, but the plan failed.

It turned out that the company independently deprived itself of success. Its specialists spent millions on the development of the field and advertising campaign. Even the name of the mineral was given in "Tiffany". Previous name — zoisite — it was very similar to the word "suicide" and poorly characterized new "brand".

This activity attracted the attention of the whole world, and the price per carat of tanzanite increased significantly. Realizing the mistake, de Souzo, local gangs and others who want to make money divided the field into many sections. They were difficult to manage, and supply was increasingly disrupted, and Tiffany had to leave its market share.

In the 50 years since the world became familiar with the mineral, its value has also been affected by the fact that no other deposits of the rock have yet been found. Geologists generally doubt the possibility of the existence of such unique conditions on the planet that allowed tanzanite to appear. According to the wildest assumptions, the reserves of the gem will last for 20 years, and its price will grow in the near future.

Compatibility with other stones

Engagement ring

This beautiful, bright gem is self-sufficient and does not need support. Other stones often spoil it, distract attention from the main thing. Only diamonds can always successfully emphasize the appearance and enhance the positive value of tanzanite for a person. If you want to buy an engagement ring, you can consider the option of tanzalite as the main stone and diamonds on the ring rim.

With citrine and amethyst, the mineral can be combined with people who expect to attract love with the help of their magical powers. Paired with Topaz, tanzanite will give the owner an inexhaustible reserve of strength for career exploits. Ruby and purple varieties of a rare gem will become faithful companions of young girls, help them achieve success in work and family life.