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Swala Gem Traders

About Swala Gem Traders

Wholesaling

Our retailing activities

Our tsavorite mine

Tanzanite

Our father was the first geologist on the tanzanite deposits in 1967. He was the one who introduced tanzanite to Tiffany's in New York in the late 60's. And we, his sons, are carrying over a similar passion for tanzanite and other gemstones.

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Tanzanite: the story of its early days

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Our retailing activities in Tanzania are based at the following locations:

- in ARUSHA, at the Arusha Hotel / Tel.: +255-754-500-200
- in DAR-ES-SALAAM, at the Royal Palm Moevenpick hotel / Tel.: +255-757-500-200

We are the Ambassador to Tanzania for the ICA and will issue certificates of authenticity.

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No gem stone discovered in East Africa has had a greater impact on the gem market than tanzanite, a mesmerizing lavender-blue color, unique to the gem stone palette. Tanzanite shows different colors when viewed from different directions but, whatever the angle, the subtle depths of the tanzanite colors are astonishing.

Our father, John Saul, was the first geologist to discover the tanzanite deposits in the late 60's. Back then, tanzanite was commonly called by its official name, blue zoisite. Our father was the one who initially brought the blue zoisite to Tiffany's President. As this new find was stunning to all, Tiffany's decided to market the gem and changed its name for commercial reasons from blue zoisite to tanzanite.

Tanzanite is only found in Tanzania and it is estimated that within 5-10 years its reserves will have been exhausted. Demand for tanzanite is increasing and production is unfortunately decreasing. Furthermore, miners have to dig deeper every day in order to find pockets of rough tanzanite. Tanzanite prices have increased considerably in the past few years – although some stability has been noticed recently – and are expected to go up as time goes by.

Our tanzanites

Some customers are surprised to see as many top of the end tanzanites on our website. We obviously do not sell only the best quality tanzanites and do not show all of our gems on the website (lighter colors are also sold). However, one has to keep in mind that our main purchasing office (Arusha - northern Tanzania) is only based an hour away from the only tanzanite mines - Mererani - in the world. We are among the very few who purchase tanzanites directly from the mines and the miners. We hence have first pick and there are absolutely no middle men between us and the production. Although high end Tanzanites are by definition very rare we have access to these qualities on a "regular" basis. The rough tanzanites are cut in our workshop and then heated in our oven.

Gem identification

Chemistry: Ca2Al3(SiO4)3(OH)
System: Orthorhombic
Hardness: 6.5-7
Density: 3.35
Ref. Index: 1.69-1.70
Birefringence: +0.009
Dispersion: 0.030
Pleochroism: strong
Cleavage: Perfect

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A perfect example of a beautiful tanzanite. Tanzanites should have a fine balance between hue, tone and saturation. Darker tanzanites are usually preferred.

A fantastic tanzanite crystal on matrix. This tanzanite was discovered very early on and pictured in Life Magazine 1969. John Saul Collection.

Emerald cut tanzanite. A slighly purple tanzanite.

Swala Gem Traders, a guarantee of quality gems