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Tanzanite
June 14, 2010
TANZANITE

























Tanzanite is one of the rarest gemstones in the world.  Rare because it is only found one place in the world, Tanzania.

Tanzanite crystals formed long ago in the unusual geological conditions exclusive to the Merelani Hills near the northern Tanzania city of Arusha.  Until the early 1960s, tanzanite lay hidden from human eyes until a group of passing Maasai shepherds spotted the sparkling stones on the ground and picked them up.

Today the world's only known tanzanite mines are located right there in the foothills of Mt. Kilimanjaro, and this relatively new gemstone, much rarer than diamonds, has become one of the world's most coveted.

There you go...a short history and trivial facts you never wanted to know about tanzanite.

Hey...I'm here to not only entertain but also educate my readers!

When we vacationed in Tanzania earlier this year, we flew into Kilimanjaro Airport and we spent our first night in Arusha, just a few miles from this very site.

I knew a little about tanzanite before we went to Africa, but never really considered buying any.  Kim and I know nothing about gemstone qualities and characteristics and, coupled with the fact that my Swahili is a little rusty, we felt ill-equipped to make a knowledgeable purchase of such an expensive item in a foreign country. 


























And then, much to my surprise and delight, Kim discovered that one of our Land Rover travel partners was a gemologist.  A GEMOLOGIST!  As in a gemstone expert who owns her own jewelry store in Winter Park, Florida!  As we were chit-chatting in the Land Rover, Pam (in the middle, with her husband and daughter) volunteered to check out the tanzanite she saw in shops along the way and would let me know if she found some good quality ones at reasonable prices.

I pretty much took this as my message from God that I was destined to buy a tanzanite stone.  I mean, seriously, WHAT ARE THE ODDS of having an expert GEMOLOGIST (who is a wonderfully sweet and very trustworthy lady!) right at my disposal???!!!  It just could not have been an accident that we were thrust together in that time and place...


























One afternoon as I was browsing...okay, BUYING...souvenirs in this shop, Pam came over to tell me they had some very nice tanzanite at good prices.

She had also advised me just to buy a loose stone not tanzanite jewelry, since I would have to pay customs duties on jewelry but not on loose stones.  Again, good advice from an expert that I would never have known on my own.




































So she led me to the tanzanite display, explained the different sizes and prices, and told me to pick out a few that I liked.

We didn't want to pay the very high price of a large stone, but I felt the smallest ones were too small, so I selected 5 from the middle group that I liked and summoned Pam over.

She immediately nixed 3 of my choices for various reasons (see, I told you I wouldn't have a clue what to look for!), leaving me with 2 to choose from.  One was a little bigger with a more brilliant cut, the other was smaller with a little more intense color.


























I "eeny-meeny-miney-moed" and chose the bigger one and another TseTse Warrior friend, Sharon, bought the other one.  Here Pam and Sharon discuss the purchase.





































Pam negotiated a good price with the Indian dealer (again, I was out of my league...the woman drives a hard bargain!) and after he called the US to authorize our credit card, we were the proud owners of a 2.37 carat tanzanite stone for more money than we had really planned to spend!

But Pam assured me it was of very high quality and well worth the money, so we brought it home with the intention of having it made into a necklace.





































2.37 carats sounds big, but it's really not...and Kim thought it would be the perfect 30th anniversary gift (yes, on August 2 we'll be married 30 years!  Unbelievable!!!) if 3 diamonds were added around it, one for each ten years of our marriage.

I certainly can't argue with that reasoning!!!

And I thought how fitting it would be if Pam would design and create a one-of-a-kind necklace for me herself, since she helped me pick it out and our friendship began right there in Tanzania, in the shadow of Mt. Kilimanjaro where this stone was found.


























So last week I mailed it off (YIKES!  I was a little nervous about mailing it...) to Florida for her to do her jewelry magic! 

And I can hardly wait to see the results (which I, of course, will share with you)!!! 
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August 9, 2010
TANZANITE, REDUX


























The long-anticipated package arrived by registered mail on Saturday!

If you've been following Not-Quite-Country Girl for awhile, you may remember my post awhile back about the tanzanite stone Kim bought for me while we were in Tanzania.

Don't fret...if you missed the post and would like to read the story behind this gem,
click here.  Or you can forget the background story and just pick it up from here.

Or you can quit reading this altogether...

Anyway, Saturday the box arrived and I could hardly wait to open it up!






































OH MY GOSH!!!!!

My tanzanite necklace is absolutely GORGEOUS and I LOVE IT!!!

Kim wanted to have the stone mounted into a pendant with 3 diamonds added, each diamond symbolizing 10 years of marriage, as his gift to me for our just-celebrated 30th anniversary.

I couldn't be more pleased with the way it turned out, and my TseTse Warrior friend Pam did a superb job designing and creating this one-of-a-kind piece of jewelry for me!






































Thank you, Pam!

And THANK YOU, my sweet adorable wonderful generous lovable Kimmie!!!

I'd say this tanzanite gem from Africa has found a pretty happy home around the neck of this Indiana girl!