The Gemstone Tsavorite

Exploring Tsavorite’s History, Properties, Prices & Worth, Origin, Gemology & More

Named by Henry Platt of Tiffany & Co., New York, the brilliant green jewel known as “Tsavorite”, has beautiful hues similar to the very best emeralds. In the fifty years since its discovery, Tsavorite has comfortably established itself as one of the world’s most beautiful, precious and highly valued gemstones.

Discovered in 1967 by the now legendary Scottish geologist, Campbell R. Bridges, tsavorite garnet has quickly found favor as a precious colored gem of choice. Very brilliant, its fabulous green colors and rarity have overcome its relative lack of lore and ancient history, to place itself at the forefront of desirable, investible and collectible gems.

Tsavorite Origin

Native to the dry grasslands of the high-plateau frontier between Kenya and Tanzania, tsavorite first came to light in the famed tanzanite producing area of Lelatema. Discovered as small green crystal pieces and granules inside geode like formations, gemological tests showed that these stunningly beautiful tsavorite crystals were in fact a variety of green grossular garnet. Fast forward over the years and most tsavorite origin is in the voi area of Kenya, with a paler-mintier cousin mined in Tanzania.

Tsavorite As A Gemstone

A green variant of grossular garnet, tsavorite ranks 7-7.5 on the Moh’s Scale and makes an excellent gem for all jewelry. Color is the most important characteristic when judging this gem’s quality.

Tsavorite hues range from light green to very dark. As with other garnets, these should be intense uniform shades that are neither too light nor too dark. The finest stones should be eye clean with few inclusions visible under magnification. With Tanzania and Kenya discovering new deposits, tsavorite’s luscious bright green hues are becoming more popular than ever.

With a popularity that traces back 5,000 years to the Bronze Age, the garnet has had a remarkably rich history. Garnets are the only gemstones believed to possess both protective and destructive elements. Crusaders in the Middle Ages set garnets into their body armor, believing the gemstones would protect them from all evil. In some Asian cultures, people have added garnets to bullets, believing its destructive power would increase the severity of an enemy’s wound. A mystical stone, Biblical mythology states that when God’s wrath clouded the earth with endless storms during the Great Flood, a radiant red garnet guided Noah’s ark to safety.

The name “garnet” is thought to be derived from the “pomegranate” fruit, with its rich red seeds. Although famous for its red color, garnets come in a variety of colors, including: reds, greens, oranges, and color change. Garnets are currently mined in Kenya, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Brazil, & the US state of Arizona. Africa provides the bulk of today’s garnet supplies to gem markets.

Color is the most important attribute when judging a garnet. Not too light or too dark, the color must be uniform and intense. Clean to the naked eye, garnets should display minimal inclusions under magnification. Following stone color, gem size is critical factor when determining value.

Intro | Tsavorite As A Gemstone | Tsavorite Origin
Tsavorite Rough | Tsavorite Prices & Value 
Tsavorite Properties & Facts | Tsavorite FAQs
Tsavorite vs Emerald

Tsavorite Garnet Rough

Native to the dry grasslands of the high-plateau frontier between Kenya and Tanzania, tsavorite first came to light in the famed tanzanite producing area of Lelatema. Discovered as small green crystal pieces and granules inside geode like formations, gemological tests showed that these stunningly beautiful tsavorite crystals were in fact a variety of green grossular garnet. Fast forward over the years and most tsavorite origin is in the voi area of Kenya, with a paler-mintier cousin mined in Tanzania.

Tsavorite Prices & Value

After bursting on to the scene in the late 1960’s, tsavorite garnet’s supply, public awareness, demand and price was initially actually quite low. In comparison to emerald it was positively excellent value. However, in the early 2000’s, a huge glut of tsavorite, both clean and included, made its way to the global markets via Thailand’s gemstone industry. The market seemed flooded for a while. The positive effect of this supply-glut and inevitable tsavorite price dip was that tsavorite really started to be pushed by gem dealers, set in jewelry, and entered the consciousness of the public as a valuable gemstone. This in turn stimulated demand further.

As time went on, the supply-glut of tsavorite then contracted, but the demand was still high, resulting in an inevitable rise in tsavorite garnet prices which is now several times more than the early 2000’s tsavorite prices per carat.

Looking to the future, given its still lower price than emerald, high transparency, and the fact it only comes from one region of the world, tsavorite is still looking like a good buy in large fine-quality pieces. Compared to diamond, there is far less tsavorite in circulation, comes from less locales and cannot be synthesized. At the smart moves from diamonds to fine colored gems, tsavorite market’s net worth is likely to increase.