Tsavorite | The Green Garnet
Owes its name to its region of origin, Tsavo National Park. It is often confused with the emerald, because of its striking bright green garnet color. The Tsavorite impresses with its purity.
The history of tsavorite
His story begins in the northeast of Tanzania. In 1967, a British geologist named Campbell R. Bridges was searching for gemstones and came across a strange potato-like tuber of rock. Within these objects he found beautiful green grains and crystal fragments.
He had discovered green grossulars. Grossulars belong to the colorful gemstone group of garnets and were very rare at that time. At that time, unfortunately, it was not possible to export the gems from Tanzania.
Campbell did not give up, however, and suspected that the gem vein could extend to Kenya, and he was to be proven right. There, his finds were officially registered and he was able to begin mining. The find became known in 1974 through a Tiffany advertising campaign in the U.S., and so the reputation of tsavorite rose internationally.
Properties of tsavorite
The color palette of the tsavorite includes a spring bright green, an intense blue-green and a deep forest green. Tsavorite is not oiled or fired, because it simply does not need it. It has a very high brilliance by nature.
Another positive characteristic is its robustness. It has a hardness of about 7.5 on the Mohs scale, making it almost as robust as the emerald. Another positive is that it is not as delicate as many other gemstones.
This plays an important role not only in setting, but also in wearing, because it does not chip as quickly as other stones. This allows for a variety of setting techniques.
- Occurrence: Madagascar, Tanzania, Kenya
- Colours: dark green, emerald green, intense light green
- Transparency: transparent to translucent
- Hardness: 7.5
- Density: 3.57 to 3.75
- Carat price: € 800 to 1,500/ct; Stones over 3 carats are considered rare
