Tsavorite

I have been reading about gems lately and was fascinated to come across one beautiful mineral of which I had never even heard. Tsavorite or tsavolite is a variety of the garnet group species grossular, a calcium-aluminium garnet with the formula Ca3Al2Si3O12. Trace amounts of vanadium or chromium provide the green colour. Green grossular had been rare until 1967, when British gem prospector and geologist Campbell R. Bridges came across a deposit of the mineral in the mountains of north-east Tanzania.


Weighing in at 325.14 carats and priced well over two million dollars, this extraordinary tsavorite is one of the largest most valuable gems ever to be discovered in East Africa. It was exhibited in January 2007. An exceptional gemstone, most likely the largest fine colour clean tsavorite in the world, it was discovered near Arusha, Tanzania.

The uncut stone weighed 185 grams and was preformed and faceted in Thailand. The impressive size and saturated colour combined with remarkable clarity and transparency put this stone in a class of its own.

Even tsavorites over 2 cts. in size are considered to be rare so an amazing stone like this will certainly end up with a collector or in a museum. At 325.13 carats, this stone is the probably the largest and definitely the largest clean tsavorite in the world.