Tsavorite Facts

Tsavorite was discovered in Tanzania.

A beautiful gemstone that resembles an emerald in its color and a diamond in its robust nature, the tsavorite was discovered in Africa in the 1960s and garnered international fame in the ensuing decades, particularly from the jewelry company Tiffany & Co. Guarded by mines full of African bush-land wildlife, the tsavorite is difficult to extract but worth the journey to find it.

Features

The tsavorite belongs to the garnet family of gems, but unlike the red jewels of this family it is green or blue and resembles an emerald. Tsavorites over 5 carats are extremely rare. The most-often gems weigh about 2 carats. The tsavorite is a favorite for jewelers because of its robust and hardy nature, which is closely related to a diamond, ruby or sapphire, as well as the gem's brightness and transparency.

Location

The tsavorite gem is found in the bush land of east Africa on the border of Kenya and Tanzania. Retrieving samples of the gem is a risky business because the mines that contain the gem are filled with dangerous bush-land wildlife such as lions and other African safari animals.

Discovery and Creation

Even though it was discovered only in 1967, the tsavorite dates back millions of years. The gem was formed by continental movements that caused smaller rocks to change shape under extreme amounts of pressure. The tsavorite was discovered encased in potatolike rock nodules that, when broken, released the bright tsavorite gem. The British geologist Campbell R. Bridges was the first to discover tsavorite in a Tasmanian mine. His second discovery occurred in 1971 in the bordering country of Kenya.

Tiffany & Co. Exposure

The world was introduced to the tsavorite gem through the jewelry company Tiffany & Co., which brought the bright jewel to international fame in 1974 when it began to promote the new jewel's second Kenyan discovery.

Naming

Tsavorite, at the suggestion of Tiffany & Co.'s former president Henry Platt, was named after the Tsavo River and Tsavo National Park, near the gem's mine location. The gem has also been called tsavorlite but both names are used interchangeably to describe the same jewel.

References

• Gemstone: Tsavorite