Earstuds – Pear – Tanzanite

Tanzanite is a purple/blue variety of the mineral Zoisite. It’s is only found in one place in the world: the Merlani Hills at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. This causes Tanzanite to be one of the earth’s most uncommon treasures and very beloved among gemstone enthusiasts. Tanzanite can show an effect called pleochroism: the gemstone shows a different hue based on the angle at which light passes through the stone. Because of this, the cut stones can display a large spectrum of colours. When the mineral is mined, it is often dark brown to almost yellow, but these are heated to bring out the beautiful purple/blue colours. Those purple specimens are also found in nature, heated due to natural volcanic activity, but the purple/blue colour is so popular that Tanzanite is also heated by people. Tanzanite used to be called Blue Zoisite right after its discovery in 1967, but was renamed by the gemstone giant Tiffany & Co. after its origin when it became clear how truly unique this mineral is.