Tanzanite — the single-source wonder
Alexandrite — the color-shifting chameleon
Painite — once the world's rarest mineral
Larimar — the volcanic sea stone
Black Opal — the dark rainbow
007skaty Maasai oral tradition recounts how lightning-induced heat stripped the brown veil off surface crystals near Mount Kilimanjaro.
007skaty President Julius Nyerere officially recognized Ngoma as the scientific discoverer of these gems.
007skaty Polish and shape raw minerals to discover how gemstones get their dazzling sparkle.
Tanzanite rarity: Tanzanite is geologically 1,000 times rarer than diamonds because it is found in only one tiny location on Earth.
A rare blue and violet variety of the mineral zoisite used as a gemstone. First discovered in 1967, the gem is mined exclusively near Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro.
Near which famous African mountain was the gemstone tanzanite first discovered in 1967?
007skaty The Pan-African thermal event created tanzanite in a 4 by 2 kilometer strip, with a one in a million chance of another deposit.
According to Maasai legend, what natural event transformed brown zoisite crystals into violet-blue tanzanite?
In what year did Jumanne Mhero Ngoma discover the first tanzanite crystals in the Mererani Hills?
Which Tanzanian president officially recognized Jumanne Mhero Ngoma as the discoverer of tanzanite?
Who was the Tiffany & Co. vice president credited with renaming the gemstone to 'tanzanite' in 1968?
Why did Tiffany & Co. reject the scientific name 'blue zoisite' for marketing the new gemstone?
Which three colors can be observed in a single rough tanzanite crystal due to its trichroic nature?
What optical property allows tanzanite to display three different colors depending on the viewing angle?