From being the rarest of gemstones to being an affordable alternative to blue natural sapphire, tanzanite has come a long way from a very limited mining reserve in Tanzania to rule the hearts of millions of couples throughout the globe by being the centerstone of their engagement rings and keepsakes of their lifetime commitment.
It was in the late 1960s that blue tanzanite was first discovered in Tanzania, making it one of the most recently identified stones in the history of popular gemstones. Initially identified as “blue zoisite”, the stone was later renamed “tanzanite” by Tiffany & Co. So, to expand your knowledge base on this stone’s phenomenal pleochroism property and several other exciting facts, read through the following four quality factors that people should look for before they buy tanzanite engagement rings for their memorable big day.
Quality Determinants: 4Cs for Tanzanite Stone
Each gemstone has four parameters the value of which determines the level of the quality of that stone. Tanzanite birthstone is known to bless those born in the last month of the year, with higher spiritual consciousness and intuition. Let us discuss each of the four quality criteria with respect to tanzanites:
Color
With blue being the primary color, tanzanites also possess secondary hues of violet. Originally found in brown or burgundy shades, tanzanites develop their stark blue color after going through natural or artificial heat treatment. An untreated tanzanite crystal is trichroic in nature, showing three different colors at each of its three axes, including all shades of blue along with green, cyan, orange, red, yellow, and brown. However, post-heat treatment, the stone turns dichroic with violetish-blue, bluish-violet, and indigo as visible hues.
Clarity
In most cases, you will be able to find a tanzanite gemstone with no eye-visible impurities. However, ones that aren’t eye-clean and have fractures are sold at comparatively low prices for being inferior in quality. For this reason, in addition to being vividly saturated in shades of blue, tanzanite needs to have an eye-clean appearance to command a heavy price tag in the market.
Cut
For a pleochroic stone like tanzanite, the cut has a very important role to play in determining how strong the light reflection occurs in the stone. For giving the best impression, the stone cut must follow the critical angle dimensions to allow maximum light to bounce back inside the stone causing strong internal reflection. Because only those cuts displaying excellent pleochroic properties will be traded for high value.
Carat
The price of each carat weight of tanzanite goes hand in hand with its color and clarity. Hence, a low-carat weight crystal with exceptional color and clarity will be valued higher than a high-carat weight stone with low saturation and inclusions. Also, the carat weight has nothing to do with the size of the stone since a similar weighed sapphire and ruby will be smaller in size for being dense minerals than aquamarine and diamonds, so never compare the carat weight of tanzanite with the weight and size of other gemstones because they might not have similar mineral density.
Conclusion
Rarity and spectacular color-displaying ability have helped tanzanite make a strong position in the world of color gemstone engagement rings. From tanzanite stud earrings to vintage tanzanite rings, you can have access to a lot more jewelry designs inspired by tanzanites on the official website of GemsNY.