Tanzanite jewelry has become incredibly popular in recent
years and is also considered quite rare. Tanzanite jewelry is well known for
its beautiful periwinkle color and trichroic effect, meaning its ability to
exhibit three different colors when viewed in different directions. In good
quality, the color is ultramarine to sapphire blue. Tanzanite jewelry in
artificial light, however, may appear more amethyst violet. At its source,
tanzanite occurs in a variety of colors, though it is common practice to
heat-treat these crystals to produce better color gemstones for tanzanite
jewelry.
Though it is called blue zoisite by scientists, which belongs
to the Epidote group, it was Tiffany & Co., back in 1967, that popularized
and gave tanzanite its tradename. They chose this name because of its country
of origin, Tanzania. Tanzanite jewelry is often made with gemstones that have
been cut especially to exhibit the orientation of deep blue to violet-blue
colors. In doing so, some of the rough may be sacrificed in order to achieve
better quality gems. This is another reason why the cost of tanzanite jewelry
is exceptionally high.
Tanzanite is soft and brittle and great care should be taken
while wearing it. Moh's scale of hardness classifies it as 6.5-7. Tanzanite
jewelry should not be steam or ultrasonic cleaned, nor should it be exposed to
sources of heat. A polishing cloth and gem cleaner may be used. Exercise
caution when having your tanzanite jewelry repaired.
