Tsavorite, the green variety of garnet, together with tanzanite, has a special place in our company’s heart. 

In the mid 1970’s my father, Menahem, first met tsavorite in Kenya and in Tanzania. At that time one amazing man and two ladies were involved in the world of this gem.

The first was the late Campbell Bridges who discovered this gem in the Tsavo National Park near the border between Tanzania and Kenya, from which it received its name. Three years later, Campbell discovered another source in Kenya. 

The second was a lady in Voi Tanzania, named Mama, leading a group of diggers who were mining these green crystals.  

The third was a very special six fingers lady In Arusha, Tanzania.

 Yes! she had 6 fingers on one of her hands, and she was a very good source for rough tsavorite. 

The rough purchased from these good old people was reasonably cheap, just a few dozens of dollars per gram, though it was not that easy to sell the cut gems.

 For many years, tsavorite was considered a good affordable replacement for emerald. Comparing it to emerald, tsavorite commonly showed better clarity grade, higher luster, and lower prices.

Subsequently, after the late 1990’s, tsavorite became a very popular and important gem in the industry, and our company in particular, benefitting from its durability, and a color and clarity that can rival emeralds without any treatments or enhancement, reaching prices we could never have imagined.

Gemologically speaking, tsavorite, a variety of grossular garnet, has an attractive high luster with various intensities of emerald green color. Its color is caused by chrome or vanadium. Tsavorite belongs to the cubic system with a hardness of 7-7.5. 

Tsavorite sources today are Tanzania, Kenya, and Madagascar.

LEGEND AND LORE

Garnets of every variety, are birthstones of the month of January. It is also traditionally given on the 2nd and 6th wedding anniversaries.

Tsavorite is considered effective for increasing wealth in all aspects of one's being, financial, artistic, emotional, creative, as well as physical.

Throughout all these years, tsavorite has become an important gem for Advanced Quality.

 We have been purchasing, and we continue to acquire, rough of all sizes from very small, producing 2mm-up beautifully cut gems, to larger gems of a few carats each…

And then came the Green King of Africa rough that my father purchased, which yielded over 22 carats of one of the finest Tsavorites ever seen, together with its complete “royal family” …

An article about the Green King was published in Gems and Gemology.