Where is tsavorite found

About Minerals. Link Directory Donations Mobile Site. Chemical Formula. Crystal System. Refractive Index. Double Refraction. Vitreous to Adamantine. Mineral Class. Grossular Garnet. Tsavorite was discovered by Scottish geologist Campbell R. Its stunning, pure green hues, durability, purity and rareness have attracted gem collectors and jewelry lovers alike. Tsavorite is the highest priced garnet on the market today.

In the lower, lighter colored grades it is relatively easy to come by in the up to the one carat size. However, fine, top color, clean Tsavorite is harder to come across, and stones over the two carats are rare, and the price per carat jumps dramatically. Stones with deeply saturate pure green color will command the highest prices. It is vital to make sure you do your research before buying a Tsavorite as there are so many different factors to consider before you purchase.

Tsavorite has yet to be synthesized, its complex chemical and physical properties make it difficult to synthesize and it requires no treatments whatsoever to enhance it. Tsavorite has a rating of 6. Due to its high refractive index and high dispersion levels, makes this stunning green gemstone incredibly sparkly and eye catching, they really 'pop' when set with Diamonds, as they too have a high refractive index and really compliment each other.

Tsavorite looks stunning in platinum and both white or yellow gold to create some gorgeous Tsavorite jewelry pieces. Being a garnet, it is the birthstone for the month of January and the gem for the 25th anniversary. New, exciting, beautiful gemstones came into being - among them, tsavorite. Having said that, the tremendous forces of Nature damaged most of the crystals so badly at the time of their formation that today it is usually only grains or fragments which are found.

Campbell R. Bridges persevered. He surmised that the seam bearing the gemstones might possibly continue into Kenya finally putting him on the right track. In , he discovered the brilliant green gemstone for the second time, in Kenya. There, he was able to have his mining claims registered officially and begin with the exploitation of the deposit. It was an adventurous business. To protect himself from wild animals, Bridges began by living in a tree-house.

In order not to have any of the gemstones stolen, he set a python to watch over them, making use of the fact that most people are afraid of snakes. It was a wonderful find. Further promotional campaigns followed in other countries, and soon tsavorite was also known at the international level. So why is the stone called tsavorite or tsavolite when it is actually a green grossularite and comes from the colourful gemstone family of the Garnet?

The nomenclature of gemstones follows certain rules. According to modern mineralogical methods, gemstones are given a name which ends in 'ite'. Henry Platt, who had followed the developments of the gemstone from the very beginning, proposed the name 'tsavorite'.

Sometimes the term 'tsavolite' is used. However, both names denote the same stone, the latter version simply having the Greek suffix '-lite' stone.

What is it that makes tsavorite so desirable? Tsavorite was first officially introduced by the famous Kenyan-Scottish gemologist Campbell Bridges in the middle of the 20th century if we are being precise. The first find was in Zimbabwe and the second in Tanzania, neither of which were officially recognized. By then it was impossible to get legal exploitation. It was not until that Campbell's tireless efforts led him to the first vein in Kenya, which soon came to the attention of the industry.

Commercially it was named Tsavorite after Tsavo National Park, one of Africa's largest nature reserves, located in Kenya. Technically Tsavorite is a rare form of Garnet called Green Grossularia. It owes its color to the presence of Vanadium and sometimes Chromium in its chemical composition.

This is a common point with Emerald. The higher the concentration of Vanadium the darker and more intense is its green color and therefore the rarer, purer and more desirable is the stone.

Its high refractoriness gives it a great luster. Among the other Tsavorite garnet properties , its great hardness stands out, although far below diamond or sapphires, it is enough to age perfectly in all types of settings making highly beautiful and durable pieces of jewelry. It can have inclusions, although much less than other gemstones. Tsavorite of acceptable quality is usually clean-to-the-eye and its imperfections are not noticeable unless magnification is used.

This property makes its extraction more desirable.