Tanzanite education needed please

[DiamondsOnly]

Hello!

I was looking to see if someone would educate me on tanzanite. I am looking to buy a pair of drop earrings for my wedding. Someone who has passed away her favorite color was purple. I don't know much about tanzanite and wanted to ask since PS has been so helpful to me. I'm not lookng to spend thousands on a pair, but a nice hoop maybe that could be worn after the wedding as well. I will be wearing my 1.02 ctw studs in my 2nd hole so I thought a drop/hoop would be nice. I'm not sure if the darker purple is the best or lighter so I hope that I can get educated.

Thank you in advance.

 

[LD]

Welcome!

Tanzanite is actually blue not purple so are you sure you want Tanzanite? Some of it can look a bit purple but overall it is blue. Generally, the darker the Tanzanite the better the quality of the stone. Washed out Tanzanite isn't desired and unfortunately in ready made pieces you do see these more than the better quality Tanzanites where smaller stones are used.

Have you thought about Amethyst? If you're on a budget and want purple, this might be easier to find.

 

[DiamondsOnly]

Oh my, thank you! All this time I thought tanzanite was purple. Hey I've learned something today. .

Is there anything that I need to know about amethyst? What do good amethyst earrings go for? I'm hoping for 14k white gold drop earrings and round is my favorite.

I appreciate the help.

 

[LD]

Why not look on Etsy? I just input "amethyst earrings" and lots have come up!

http://www.etsy.com/search/handmade?search_submit=&q=amethyst+earrings&view_type=gallery&ship_to=GB

You asked about cost but that honestly depends on whether the earrings are in gold or silver, how many gemstones etc etc. It sounds like you have a specific "look" in mind so you may be better of looking for a design you like.

 

[DiamondsOnly]

I keep forgetting about Etsy! Thank you! I know I'm looking for round drop earrings so I'll take a gander at Etsy right now. .

 

[DiamondsOnly]

I looked at Etsy and nothing caught my eye. Do you know of a reputable place to buy loose gemstones? I'd be willing to pick out the stone and buy a setting.

 

[PrecisionGem]

Actually tanzanite can be both purple and blue. Tanzanite, especially unheated tanzanite will show 3 different colors depending on what axis you are looking through on the stone. In some parts of the world the purple color is desired, in the US most people prefer the blue color. I find that once tanzanite is heated, the third color seems to be much less apparent. I have seen unheated stones that down one axis are blue, rotate the stone and it is purple, flip it around and it's green. Unheated you can often see: gray, brown, reddish purple, green, blue, yellow, pink and mixtures of these.

As LD said, the most commonly desired color is a dark blue, however fancy colors such as pink, and lighter greens will command a much higher price to collectors.

 

[LD]

You can buy loose gemstones from most of the vendors linked in the thread at the top of this part of the forum - that would be a good starting place. However, it depends on your budget. If you're going to buy loose stones (which you'll probably be able to pick up quite inexpensively) you've then got to find somebody to make your earrings and that's where the cost will be (together with the chosen material ie silver, gold etc). You could end up spending more than if you bought ready made earrings. If you want unique earrings and are happy to pay slightly more than obviously going custom is a good idea. If you want something that's relatively easy on your pocket then buying ready made is more sensible.

I've just had a look and The Jewellery Channel in the UK has some Tanzanite and Amethyst earrings - I don't know if they're in the US still? I know they were at one time. It might be worth checking them out. Do you have something called JTV? Maybe others will know if that might be somewhere to look.

Here are links to the UK Jewellery channel so you can see prices and designs.

http://search.thejewellerychannel.tv/search?keywords=tanzanite%20earrings
http://search.thejewellerychannel.tv/search?keywords=amethyst+earrings&.x=0&.y=0



ps Gene - I have orange, green and pink tanzanite and really like their uniqueness!

 

[minousbijoux]

So out of curiosity, when they're orange, green and pink, do you still call them tanzanite instead of zoisite?

 

[LD]

So out of curiosity, when they're orange, green and pink, do you still call them tanzanite instead of zoisite?

You're right - I believe any colour other than blue should be termed zoisite but "tanzanite" seems to have crept more into our vocabulary!

 

[DiamondsOnly]

Thank you!

We do have jtv.com and I will take another look today. I was thinking of 2 stones in a drop setting just a solitaire earring. I don't need anything too fancy because my dress has a lot of detail. I will do some more looking today. I have time to decide so I'm glad I'm doing this now.