PEACOCK TANZANITE GEMSTONE

OVERVIEW

What Color is Peacock Tanzanite?

Traditional tanzanite is a gemstone known for its intoxicating blue, violet, and burgundy tones. Peacock tanzanite represents a variation on this lovely gem, featuring a fascinating transition between cheerful green and bright blue hues.

This unique color blend is the result of strong pleochroism, allowing the gemstone to display different shades when viewed from various angles. The peacock-like effect gives the stone a vibrant, eye-catching personality that stands out from classic tanzanite. As a result, peacock tanzanite is highly valued for bold, distinctive, and artistic jewelry designs.

VALUE

Determining Peacock Tanzanite's Value

COLOR

Peacock tanzanite is prized for its captivating blue-violet color with noticeable color transitions. When set in cluster designs, the grouped stones enhance this dynamic color effect, making the gemstone appear even more vibrant and visually striking.

Clarity

High-quality peacock tanzanite should appear eye-clean, with inclusions not visible to the naked eye. Once polished, the gemstone displays a brilliant, glass-like (vitreous) luster that enhances its overall transparency and visual appeal.

Cut

Peacock tanzanite is commonly faceted to maximize its luster and color play. Popular modern cuts include round, oval, and marquise shapes. Elongated cuts such as oval and marquise can create the illusion of a larger stone while maintaining excellent color and clarity.

Carat

Tanzanite rarely occurs in large sizes, and stones weighing several carats are increasingly rare. As carat weight increases, availability decreases, often leading to a noticeable rise in price due to higher demand for larger peacock tanzanite gemstones.

Origin

How did Peacock Tanzanite Get its Name?

Peacock tanzanite is named for its color. It’s similar in hue to the Indian peacock, an exotic bird with iridescent blue to green plumage. It's easy to see why this beautiful bird inspires this stone's name!

The word tanzanite, on the other hand, has a more interesting origin. Tanzanite is named for Tanzania, the country from which it is mined. It is a variety of blue zoisite. Popular gem lore suggests that when tanzanite was first being marketed, the name blue zoisite bore too much similarity to the phrase “blue suicide.” Eventually, this lead to the unique single-source gemstone being called tanzanite.

Formation

How is Peacock Tanzanite Mined?

Miners employ both modern and traditional techniques when extracting peacock tanzanite.

Modern mining techniques find use in the ‘C’ block the tanzanite mines. It’s here the government sponsored mining company performs the bulk of extraction. This provides a consistent and efficient way for the stone to be acquired. Much of the process is automated, with specialized machines doing the brunt of the work that was once performed by hand.

Artisanal methods are still heavily used in the other blocks of the mine. Artisanal mining techniques include time-tested methods for digging up the earth in search of precious gems. These include the use of tools such as picks and shovels, and washing mined rough through panning methods that have existed for centuries.

Shop LC is a primary Sightholder for tanzanite. This partnership with the mine ensures that a steady supply of high-quality material is always available to Shop LC. Mine sightholders enter a contract where they agree to purchase an amount of rough from the mine on a regular basis. By committing to this purchasing agreement, Shop LC offers tanzanite jewelry at a daily low cost that’s difficult to beat.

Facts

Peacock Tanzanite Facts

• Ranks 6.5 to 7 on the Mohs scale of hardness.
• Peacock tanzanite shifts between greenish to bluish hues, mimicking the iridescent sheen of Indian peacocks.
• Sourced from the Merelani Hills of Tanzania.
• Peacock tanzanite is heat treated to create and improve color.