Tanzanite was first discovered in 1967 under the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, East Africa – the only place tanzanite can be found on earth. As the denominator and the first company bringing tanzanite into the world, Tiffany & Co has declared this precious gemstone as “the most beautiful blue stone to be discovered in 2,000 years”. After almost 50 years since the discovery, tanzanite has gained tremendous prevalence as one of the bestselling coloured gemstones today.
Tanzanite is well-known for its purplish-blue colour with high clarity, relatively less imperfections, fissures or inclusions, which make this stone unique and stunning, said Akhil Surana, marketing manager of Hong Kong-based AP Gems. “The most fascinating feature of tanzanite is its deep and rich blue - an intense and luminous colour with a shade of violet…Tanzanite is one of the rarest gemstones on earth and may even be one of the most undervalued relative to its rarity,” stated Anne Wild of Germany-based gemstone lapidary and trading house Paul Wild. “Given the supply rarity, the unique trichroic properties (blue, violet and burgundy colours), well-organised mining and distribution structure and concerted marketing initiatives, tanzanite appears to have all the elements of a hit product.”
According to Rizwan Ullah, director of TanzaniteOne Mining Ltd which is the world’s largest and scientifically advanced miner and supplier of tanzanite, after a period of strong demand for tanzanite in previous years owing to the stable economy, ample supply, good quality of stones and very less illegal mining, the present market is low because of the decreased supply, global economic slowdown, inadequate skilled cutters, etc.
Speaking of the scarcity of tanzanite, Ullah told Hong Kong Jewellery that worldwide diamond production in 2014 was around 135 million carats which amount to more than the entire hypothesised tanzanite resources. He added that when considering diamonds have been mined for over 100 years, it further confirms the rarity of tanzanite. He said: “Experts said that the chance of tanzanite occurring anywhere else in the world is less than a million to one. Geologists estimated that for every ton of mined earth, there is approximately 0.42 ounces of gem-quality tanzanite which is equal to roughly three sugar cubes.”
Paul Wild is one of TanzaniteOne’s 10 sightholders who have direct access to large quantities and high-quality rough tanzanite from sustainable supply with guaranteed fair mining conditions. Anne Wild said that considering the current pricing at recent trade fairs in Tucson, Hong Kong and Basel, as well as rough pricing in Tanzania, they believe that tanzanite prices will still slightly firm up throughout 2016. Specifically, the prices of intense colour, large and unheated stones will further increase. For smaller-sized heated ones, they foresee a stable situation as the demand is steady. “The Asian market is for the moment being quite saturated with commercial qualities, but tanzanite receives increasing appreciation with customers in other markets. Also, from the fashion aspect, blue is an ongoing long-term trend,” she expressed her confidence in tanzanite’s market situation.
Rohit Jain, CEO of India-based Royal Blue Gems revealed that the market is slow in China recently, while demand from the United States and Europe is good especially for large-sized stones. Based on his observation, most of the consumers are looking for AAA grade, dark or medium-colour tanzanite. “Jewellers are demanding more and more tanzanite, but the problem is mainly from the price. They want high-quality tanzanite in low price level,” he added. In fact, from 2012 to 2015, prices of tanzanite increased about 20 percent as rough outputs declined, according to TanzaniteOne. Akhil Surana also stressed that the main challenge for tanzanite dealers right now is the hiking price caused by the limited and expensive rough.
For another sightholder - US-based STS Jewels, they have taken actions to promote tanzanite in cooperation with Tanzanite Foundation™ which is a non-profit, industry-supported organisation dedicated to the promotion of ethically sourced tanzanite and the growth of the industry. STS Jewels’ Sunil Agrawal noted that given that China and the United States are the biggest markets for tanzanite currently, their marketing campaign will be focused on these two markets in 2016. Three years later, Europe and Japan will be the next target. According to director of Tanzanite Foundation™ Imran Khan, their marketing initiatives for China will include the ‘Be Born to Tanzanite’ campaign, leading from the knowledge that tanzanite’s finite supply means that in generations to come, it will be known as an heirloom gemstone.
“It is believed that tanzanite is not yet a well-known gemstone all over the world, which implies that there are still a lot more potential and success stories to unveil,” AP Gems’s Akhil Surana predicts the future of this blue treasure.
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