Friday, February 20, 2009

Tanzanite

TANZANITE!




This is What you need to look for when buying TANZANITE!
Your Tanzanite should look royal blue with hints of royal purple and flashes of Red and be free from inclusions as much as possible. Costs are running around $450-800 per carat. DO NOT PAY MORE than that for a loose stone.
If you are looking for Tanzanite and need assistance, contact me if you like.

Tanzanite!
There are hundreds upons hundreds of gemstones out there.They are all precious. There is NO such thing in the appraisal world as a "semi-precious" stone. There are different classifications and different inclusions in stones as well as varying degrees of transparency.
With all the hype over Tanzanite currently I wanted to make sure that you know and understand everything you need to know about Tanzanite right now.
The only thing that makes me madder is when someone I know purchases a stone or a home without talking to me, or a expert in the field first, and then has the audacity to complain to me that they got taken for a ride on the purchase. The only thing I can say is "I am sorry that you thought you were more educated on the subject and thought you could take care of the process on your own and didnt talk to me, someone who would have been a second voice for you and would have also spoken and negotiated in your favor." I like to call this, "reason and logic".
So, for this reason, I write today on Tanzanite.
DO NOT buy this stone anywhere else but through a REPUTABLE dealer. Pay for the intelligence and their knowledge.
OTHERWISE...just go buy a cheap $20 costume replica at the checkout counter at your local department store.
Tanzanite can be easily Lab created, crystal, or glass. You the consumer CANNOT know or tell the difference.
Zoisite, the family that Tanzanite comes from is not easy to create. But the look is simple to create.
THIS IS A TREATED TANZANITE CRYSTAL and IS A GOOD QUALITY Rough STONE.
Be careful, with any ring or stone purchase.
As of this past few months, technicians and lab creation companies that USED to create gems for industrial purposes are now creating HUGE slabs of HIGHLY sought after stones for nothing.
Alexandrite, Ruby, Diamond, sapphire, emerald and every other stone in the market.
If you do not have a good reputable company selling it to you. its your own damn fault if you dont get what you paid for.
TANZANITE at your jewelers should look like Iolite, or Royal Purple Blue Sapphire. It should not look like light white lavender sapphire. It should be Deep Royal Purple Blue with radiating flashes of red if moved in sunlight or flourescent/ halogen lighting. You cannot miss this color. The cheap lavender stones that are out in the market are not worth your money. Save the cash and double up and spend the money on the upgrade.
There are some unheated, untreated Tanzanites that are almost white sapphire appearing and have a light green, light yellow and a hint of lavender or light blue in minor spots. This might be Tanzanite, but is not what the public seeks or what you see in jewelry arenas.
Tanzanite is mined in Kenya and Tanzania, NOT to be confused with Tazmania.
Tanzania, the Mererani, or Merelani Hills of Simanjiro District, 16 kilometres south of Kilimanjaro Airport, or 70km south of Arusha, Tanzania, at the BASE of Mt. Kilimajaro.Tanzanite is 1000 times more rare than a white Diamond. The mines have been open since 1967 when a tailor named Manuel D' Souza was prospecting for Rubies and a member of the Mesai tribe showed him the find. He could not control his claim and soon lost control of the find. The country of Tanzania took control of the mines and gave control of them to the State Mining Corporation in 1976.
THIS IS A BLUE GREEN UNHEATED UNTREATED TANZANITE SPECIMEN!
Unheated, untreated tanzanite is copper brown and when heated at temperatures up to 600 degrees it turns a beautiful royal purple blue and is often confused with Sapphire.
There are currently 4 ACTIVE Tanzanite Land Plots with several mines on them. 2 of the plots have more than 400 small mines and they are mined off and on throughout the year. 2 of these plots from what I am told are not like the copper or gold mines that you and I would think they might be, and are more like a massive plot that is often associated with ore, granite or gravel. Imagine 4-7 gravel pit mines that are 1-2 miles by 5-6 miles across or larger!
4 of these are more actively mined. "A" block area, and "C" block area, are reserved for foreign investment through "site holders". These two are mined with large equipment. "B" block area, and "D" Block area are mined by and for the ingenous locals and not by machines. The B and D Block areas have around 400 tiny mine pockets that can be mined and have individuals "wana-apollo", small groups or businesses that employ up to 100 people and a system called "bing" to search for pockets and then the mines are dug and "daisy chained" and then the dirt and gems mined, bucket by bucket.
Merelani Township is where the miners trade their mined crystals and stones.In 2005 a consortium known as Tanzanite One, LTD.took control of Tanzania's largest Tanzanite Mine known as "C" block. That mine is at a greater than 1000 ft depth and many people believe that in the next 5-10 years all of the mines will no longer produce quality stones worth purchasing.
Tanzanite One has established a De-Beers like control over the Tanzanite Market. There are Millions of Carats of Tanzanite out in the world, but Tanzanite One will only release it, a few thousand Carats a month or year in order to keep the price high and rising.
A major concern in GIA and ASA appraisal circles is the lab created Russian Tanzanion.This is a lab created pulled synthetic Forsterite. This is a very convincing and extremely good replica of Tanzanite. It has physical and pleochroic characteristics of Tanzanite. There is now a YAG (Yytrium Aluminum Garnet), simulated Tanzanite and it too is a convincing substitute as well.
AS OF EARLY 2008, Floods in the area of Mererani (Meralani) and Mt. Kilimarjaro have washed out, and flooded several of the Tanzanite Mines, and have killed at least 80 people as of April 2nd, 2008. Several of these mines ARE NOT, repeat, ARE NOT, expected to open, according to www.english.aljazeera.net . At least 6 people have been killed and 87 miners were underground when the floods took over the mines. The government is rapidly acting in the hopes to obtaint the equipment and drain the mines in the hopes the get the bodies of the miners out of the plots.On February 18th 2008, President Bush and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete signed the Millenium Challenge Compact and The United States gave Tanzania more than 675 MILLION US dollars for economic development. Which should ensure the development of mining and gemstones in the area. Tanzania is the 3rd largest producer of Gold, Diamonds, Rubies, Emeralds and Sapphires, according to Independent News Organization Al Jazeera.
THIS IS AN UNTREATED YELLOW GREEN SPECIMEN OF TANZANITE!
Tanzanite prior to 2000 was about $100-$400 per carat. In 2004 Tanzanite was $400-750 per Carat. In 2008 Tanzanite is about $650-3000 per Carat. Oviously the larger and darker the stone the higher price and closer the price will be to 2-3 thousand per carat.
With the recent floods and the locals or " wana-appolo" cautious more and more with flooding and looting, it will only cause the foreign run investment mining operations to raise prices without competition form locals and supplies in market at record lows.Currently only a few of the plot mines are open and running, several have been flooded and the Foreign Invested mines are up and running. It is more and more likely that several wil close for good, but several will stay open , as this is many tribes, and locals' only way and means of income and trade.
You can expect current auction prices to go from $500-600 per carat to $1000 per carat immediately. As they already are doing.
You can also expect that by 2010 per carat price on good quality Tanzanite, not even high quality Tanzanite, to reach $3000-5000 per carat.DO NOT EVER clean Tanzanite or any other stone with anything other than cold-warm water, and a very very mild 1 drop to 1 gallon soap water. No steam, No sonic, no Acid cleaners, no heat, no jewelry or gemstone cleaners. Just warm water with a mild natural soap.
If you like the stone because its pretty and are ok with paying the price no matter what they say the stone is, then fine, buy the stone., If you are buying the stone because they say its a "blank blank blank" stone, and its more than just pretty and might be an "investment" for you, then you had better trust the person and the company you are buying it from, or they had better have an iron clad reall good return policy.
THIS IS NOT A GOOD OR EVEN ACCEPTABLE TANZANITE STONE! DO NOT BUY THESE LOOSE OR IN RINGS! IF YOU WANT THIS COLOR, GET A LIGHT AMETHYST and SAVE HUNDREDS OR PERHAPS THOUSANDS!!!!!
If you don't have the stones to toss down the money and know for sure that it is what they say it is, then don't. Ask them if they have a return policy and whether or not you are able to return it if you take it in to a reputable appraiser after purchasing. If its not what they say it is, you should be able to return it right away. Besides, you will know in your heart if the dealer is reputable. Check out http://www.bbb.org/ online as well before you go.
In the Carribean, Bahamas or Mexico such as Aruba, Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Bahamas, and other islands...I really like and trust, Tanzanite International, Emeralds International, and Diamonds International. They have a New York and Florida affiliate. In Santorini, go to Poiniros, first jewelry store on left up past cliff restaraunts, once you reach the top ( tell them Troy from US sent you.) They will give you 10% off, they said. When in St. Maarten, check out Depti at D and K Gems International, 69A Front Street ( Tell Depti, that Troy and Carol from MN sent you). If you are in the U.S. Contact me or contact me before you go.Remember, as always, walk away, compare, go online, contact me, go back to the store the next day OR in an hour or two. The will always drop the price. Always.*************Gee I am so glad that I bought my 3 stones a few years ago. They were a 6 carat, 8 carat and 13 carat stone that were less than 400 per carat. Today they are more than 1000 per Carat Each.I am currently completing my colored stones portion of my Gemmological Institute of America Classes on Colored Stones and Diamonds, or more commonly known as GIA. If you have any comments, questions, or concerns about stones or jewelry, please contact me first and I am sure I can help you...

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