Jeweler original, unauthorized, do not**
Towards the end of the year, you want to go on a wild nature trip to Africa?
Tanzania is definitely your best choice!
Source@captainoates flickrThis is located in eastern Africa, south of the equator, and has a land area of only 94The small country of 50,000 square kilometers not only has the towering Kilimanjaro Mountain, the beautiful and spectacular island of Zanziba, the wild and ** Serengeti savannah, but also allows you to experience the world's greatest natural wonder: the Great Migration of Wild Animals.
Source: Documentary "Serengeti".
Source: Documentary "Serengeti" Of course, in addition to having the top natural scenery in East Africa, the mineral resources here are also very rich, and the proven minerals include diamonds, carbonates, and various gemstones, etc., and the total amount of major minerals ranks fifth in Africa.
In today's article, let's walk into Tanzania and appreciate the local specialty gems and jade.
Photo: Vincent Pardieu GIA Emerald, recognized as one of the "Five Precious Gemstones" in the international jewelry world, is instantly admired for its unique green color.
Dior [Cher Dior] series emerald rings There are many origins of emeralds, in addition to the well-known Colombia, Zambia, Brazil, such as China, Afghanistan, Tanzania and other places are also produced.
Distribution map of the main sources of emerald deposits in the world Source: Research on the world's main colored gemstone sources In 1969, a farmer found emeralds in the residual layer of shimmer in Tanzania, and in the early 70s of the 20th century, the emerald primary mine located on the west bank of Lake Manyala in northern Tanzania was discovered.
Round quartz inclusions can be seen in Tanzanian emeralds, where emeralds are often associated with alexandrite, yellow chrysoberyl, apatite, spinel, olivine and other minerals.
The interior usually contains rich inclusions such as quartz, emerald, and beryl, which are arranged linearly or randomly distributed, and sometimes titanium-rich almolite, illite, and pyrodine garnets appear.
Two groups of fluid inclusions can be seen in Tanzanian emeralds, and Tanzania is one of the most important producers of rubies.
As early as the beginning of the 20th century, rubies were discovered in Longido in northern Tanzania, and later, ruby mining areas were discovered in the Umba Valley, Morogoro, Songaia, Tunduru and other places.
Schematic map of the distribution of major ruby deposits in Tanzania Source: Research on the world's major colored gemstone sources At present, the rubies produced in Tanzania are mainly concentrated in the four major mining areas of Wenza, Umba, Morogoro, Tunduru and Songaia.
In 2008, a high-quality ruby was discovered in Vinza, central Tanzania, and because it was unheated, it was ready to be sold, causing a huge response in the market.
Geological map of Wenza ruby mining area in Tanzania Source: The world's main colored gemstone sources study the rubies produced here, with a variety of colors, mainly pink, red, dark orange-red, purple, high transparency, obvious blue bands or blue-purple flake areas, common rhombohedral direction double crystal and a group of "intersection air tubes", sometimes three groups of directions can be seen.
Wenza ruby matrix rock and ruby crystal Source: Research on the world's major colored gemstone sources In addition, long tubular, fibrous, needle-like or hair-like inclusions can also be seen in Wenza rubies, especially in the top Wenza rubies.
Tubular, needle-like or hair-like inclusions in Tanzania's Wenza ruby Source: Research on the world's major colored gemstone sources In addition to Wenza rubies, rubies from the Morogoro region are also one of the most representative rubies in Tanzania.
Curved (swirling) structures and straight or angular growth bands can be seen in Morogoro rubies, and one, two, or three sets of double crystals parallel to the rhombohedral plane are visible, and the interior contains octahedral spinel inclusions, zircon inclusions, apatite inclusions, pink garnet inclusions, etc.
A variety of mineral inclusions in Morogoro ruby in Tanzania Source: Research on the world's major colored gemstone sources In addition to rubies, Tanzania is also a famous sapphire source in Africa.
The sapphire production here is large, counting tons, and the color is mainly blue, ranging from the dark blue of Shandong sapphire to the blue of Sri Lanka, and the particle size is 05-5cm is the majority.
15.33 Carat Tanzanian Sapphire with Diamond Ring Pendant dual-purpose model, unheated Tanzania's sapphire deposits, mainly concentrated in the Ruuma mining area in the south of the country and the Umba mining area in the north.
Map of Tanzania's major sapphire mining areas Source: The world's major colored gemstone sources Study Sapphire deposits in the Ruwuma region of the south are concentrated in Tunduru and Songaia.
The sapphires produced by Tonduru are very rich in color, encompassing almost all of the visible light spectrum, but are usually lighter in color and are known as "chalk colors".
The most common solid inclusions in sapphires here are zircon, most of which are small, colorless and transparent, elongated, or irregularly rounded.
Circular transparent zircon with small wing-like fractures in the carbon trinia tundulu sapphire Source: The world's major colored gemstone sources study The typical internal inclusions of sapphires produced in the Songgaia mine are characterized by rutile of various shapes and sizes, and sometimes solid inclusions such as zircon and epidote.
Native rutile with short columnar metallic luster in Songaia, Tanzania Source: The world's major colored gemstone source research The Umba Valley in the north is also known for producing sapphires of rich colors, with common colors such as orange, yellow, violet, purple, peach, etc., and bicolor and color-changing varieties are also produced.
After the 90s of the last century, the orange sapphires produced in the Umba Valley were similar to the Paparadscha sapphires in Sri Lanka, and they were called "East African Paparadscha Sapphires".
The most obvious inclusions of the sapphires produced here are the scaffolding structure, and in addition, a large number of colorless transparent round zircon crystals can also be seen.
Scaffolding structure in Umba sapphire Source: The world's main colored gemstone source research spinel, as a new "dark horse" in colored gemstones, has become the world's best "impostor" because of the ruby god, and has been inlaid in the crown of the Tsar and the British Empire.
At present, the origin of spinel in the world is mainly distributed in Myanmar, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Afghanistan and other places.
Distribution map of the world's major spinel sources Source: The world's major colored gemstone sources Among them, Tanzania is famous for producing a bright pink spinel with a neon feel - mahenge spinel.
Mahengei spinel in Tanzania Source: The world's major colored gemstone sources Research In the 80s of the 20th century, spinel was first discovered in the marble near Matumbo and Mahenge in Morogoro Province, Tanzania, and then some spinel occurrences were also found in Songaia and Tunduru.
In 2000, high-quality spinel crystals were found in the white marble veins of the Ipanko area near Mahengei.
Ipanko spinel deposit near Mahengei, Tanzania Source: The world's major colored gemstone sources study the spinel produced here, with large particles and high transparency, which can show red, purple, pink, pink, orange-pink, orange-red, red-orange tones, among which, pink is the most common.
The spinel produced in the Mahenge region of Tanzania, the high-quality Mahengai spinel has its own neon color, and the cutting is in place and the electric light is full, and the high-quality Mahengai spinel will show a charming cherry red color after cutting.
Spinel ring cushion-shaped spinel weighs about 2083 carats from Tanzania There is also a special velvety feeling of pink spinel from the Mahengai origin that has not been optimized for clarity, which gives the inside of the gemstone a foggy feeling, visually giving people a very "milky" feeling, which is what we often call the "milk body" of the marhenge (referred to as "milk cap").
Mahengai spinel, the source network due to the low production of spinel in the Mahengei area, is basically in a state of extinction, the ** of Mahengai spinel is even higher, and some unscrupulous merchants are also called "Mahengai spinel" for pink spinel with similar color and texture in other origins.
3.04 carat natural mahenge spinel with diamond ring Source: Artron Auction suggests everyone: Don't hear "mahenge" with its own beauty filter, whether it is a gemstone or jade, quality is a decisive factor affecting ** at any time.
3.2 carat natural mahenge spinel with diamond earrings Source: Artron Auction Tourmaline, mineralogical name is tourmaline, is a borosilicate crystal, according to the color can be divided into red, green, blue, etc., hardness is about 7, accompanied by bubble inclusions and cracks, good clarity is extremely rare.
1.02 carats Natural Chrome Tourmaline and Colorful Abalone with Diamonds Butterfly Brooch At present, there are more than 300 tourmaline deposits or occurrences that have been found on all continents in the world, and gem-quality tourmaline is mainly produced in Brazil, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Kenya, Mozambique and other places.
World tourmaline distribution map Source: World Jewelry Colored Gemstone Origin Research Among them, Tanzania produces a chromium-containing magnesium tourmaline, known as "chrome tourmaline".
4.25 carat cushion-shaped natural green chrome tourmaline with sapphire diamond ring Source: Tiancheng International Compared with the green tourmaline produced in Brazil, this kind of chromium tourmaline is rich in color green because it contains trace amounts of chromium, bright tones, full color, and the production of high-quality large carat chrome tourmaline is low in the world, and it is one of the most valuable tourmaline varieties.
Weight 1147 carats Tanzania chrome tourmaline In 1967, a new type of gemstone with an intense blue color was discovered in Tanzania by gemologist Campbell RBridges was discovered and discovered by Henry B., vice president of TiffanyPlatt named it Tanzanite.
La Parisienne Tanzanite Necklace, by Chopard The reason why it is named after the country is because in the same year the United Republic of Tanzania was founded, and it was named Tanzanite in commemoration, and later Tanzanite naturally became the national stone of Tanzania.
Tanzanite's mineral name is zoisite, which is a silicate mineral. There is another name in the world, called tanzanite, and the gem-quality tanzanite commonly found on the market is mainly blue-purple.
Source: GIA Tanzanite has an interesting feature, which is its pleochroism. It has a strong trichromatic.
In 1969, the American Mineralogist magazine described the pleochroism of tanzanite as "reddish-purple, dark blue, and yellow-green."
In fact, in addition to blue-purple, natural tanzanite is commonly found in greenish-blue with brownish hues, as well as gray, brown, yellow, green, light pink, etc.
Tanzanite rough most of the tanzanite on the market today has been heat-treated to remove brownish-green, yellow-green, gray-yellow, brownish-yellow tones, and deepen and enhance blue and violet tones.
Meisa Tanzanite White Gold Ring, by Boucheron For a long time, the best quality tanzanite is often regarded as a replacement for sapphire because it can show a rich deep purple blue, but it also has a disadvantage, that is, the hardness is not enough, so in terms of durability, sapphire is superior.
Precious Chopard Tanzanite White Gold Necklace, by Chopard In addition to Tanzania, tanzanite has also been found in the United States, Mexico, Greenland, Austria, Switzerland and other places, but in the world, only the Merelani Mountain in Tanzania is mined on a commercial scale.
Small minerals near Merelani in addition to tanzanite, gemologist Campbell RBridges has also found another gemstone in Tanzania: tsavorite.
Campbell R. holding TsavorBridges 1961, Campbell RBridges first discovered green grossular garnet (tsavorite) in Tanzania, but unfortunately due to the nationalization policy of Tanzania**, the development of tsavorite from Tanzania ended in failure.
Source: Campbell R., a jeweler who worked tirelessly and was strongly supported by Tiffany at the end of 1970Bridges, in the vicinity of Ts**o National Park near the border between Kenya and Tanzania, has rediscovered this vibrant, vibrant green garnet.
283.74 ct tsavorite rough from the Merelani mine in Tanzania. Source: GIA, Campbell R., late 1973Bridges with Henry B., then president of TiffinyPlatt named the newly discovered green grossular garnet "tsavorite".
henry b.Platt and Campbell RBridges "Tsavorite" is a green grossular garnet, as a gemstone upstart, its overall advantages can be shortened to "three highs":High color saturation, high brightness, and high clarity.
High-quality tsavorites often exhibit an unbiased and intense bright green, which some people call "electric green", and if you are not careful, it will give people an "emerald" feeling.
The high brightness is due to Tsavor's high refractive index (173- 1.75), Fine cut tsavorite gemstones usually have a strong fire.
The hardness of tsavorite also completely keeps up, with a hardness of 7 on the Mohs scale 75. Perfectly pass the "score line" of gemstone hardness.
Thus, Tsavorite is known for"It has all the perfection of a fine gemstone, and more".of gems.
Although the quality of tsavorite is excellent in all aspects, due to the nationalization policy of Tanzania**, the outflow of tsavorite from the production area is limited, the output is extremely low, and the market circulation is not widespread.
Tsavorite mineral area in Tanzania, source network vanadium chrysoberyl was first found in Tanzania in the mid-90s of the 20th century, and later found in Ilakaka in Madagascar, Sri Lanka, and Mogok in Myanmar.
Vanadium chrysoberylDue to the elements "vanadium" and "chromium".The addition gives vanadium chrysoberyl a distinctive mint green hue, which makes it look completely different from ordinary yellow-green chrysoberyl colored by "iron".
Most vanadium chrysoberyls have a fresh mint green color, with a few reaching a brilliant green color close to emerald.
Vanadium ChrysoberylHigh-quality Vanadium Chrysoberyl is a niche gemstone sought after by gem lovers and gem collectors, and it is difficult to see it in the ordinary market. And because of the beautiful color of vanadium chrysoberyl, the scarcity of production, and the excellent gemological parameters, ** has been high.
Mr. J said: Earlier, our Gem Country series was introduced to you.
India (related reading: discontinued Kashmir sapphires, household name diamonds......Walking into India, which is full of treasures) Brazil (related reading: In addition to the world-famous football, Brazil also specializes in these 9 gems and jades, how many do you know?Today, we have introduced Tanzania's specialty gems and jades, of course, each country in the world has many unique minerals, and after that, Mr. J will introduce them one by one, so stay tuned
References:Note: This article ** originates from the Internet, if there is any infringement, please contact to delete1. Research on the world's main colored gemstone producing areas by Zhang Beili and Lu Taijin.
2. Systematic Gemology by Beili Zhang.