Tanzanite Diamond Earring

A stunning pair of 18K white gold earrings set with two 1.51 carat royal blue tanzanites, decorated with 18 diamonds on each piece.
 
GIA CERTIFIED ✔
 
Geological History
Many hundreds of millions of years ago, shifting plates caused a massive upheaval in the earth’s crust forcing it upwards over 19,000 feet to form the majesty of what is known today as Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain. The visual feast of the ice capped peak towering over endless plains of wildlife has mesmerized many over the centuries but what was created below ground as the volcano erupted continues to mesmerize a few who are lucky enough to own a piece of it – Tanzanite!
 
The eruption created the unique set of conditions in the earth for this wonderful gem to form over 500 million years ago. Heated ground waters circulated through rock fractures, dissolving minerals from the surrounding rocks and redepositing them in open spaces like fractures. Here as the rock folded with time, the heat and pressure grew to a level where it was possible for Tanzanite to form. Much of the first crystal formations would have been destroyed by the folding rock over the ages or by a change in temperature or pressure but some survived and the pair of crystals pictured on the left were amongst these. They were chiseled out of the rock several hundred feet down by resolute miners and brought up to the surface.
 
In their rough state they were a mixture of the 3 colors locked within them – violet, reddish brown and blue and would not unleash the fiery violet blue you see in the picture of the cut pieces until they had been heated at 600 degrees centigrade – almost a tribute to the fiery eruption from which they were born.
 
Cut by master cutters in our Tanzanian based lapidary on Goloindoi road in Arush, Tanzania and then brought to our main offices for photography and laser inscription. A journey of 550 million years has paused here.