PARCEL
TSAVORITE ROUGH PARCEL

This is a natural untreated parcel of tsavorite rough which i bought direct from the miner in Kenya.I hand sorted them out of a large parcel and selected only clean bright healthy  gemmy stones..The stones are small but very clean and will be a pleasure to cut or kept as a specimen parcel.

                                        Weight of parcel 10.55 cts app

                                  Size of largest piece 6 x 4 x 3 mm app

Tsavorite or tsavolite is a variety of the garnet group species grossular, a calcium-aluminium garnet . Trace amounts of vanadium or chromium provide the green colour.

Unlike many other gemstones, the tsavorite is neither burnt nor oiled. This gemstone is not in need of any such treatment. Like all the other garnets it is simply a piece of pure, unadulterated Nature. Another positive characteristic is its robustness. It has almost the same hardness as the (considerably more expensive) emerald, - approximately 7.5 on the Mohs scale - but it is markedly less sensitive. That is an important feature not only when it comes to the stone's being set but also in its being worn. A tsavorite is not so likely to crack or splinter as a result of an incautious movement. It is well suited to the popular 'invisible setting', in which the stones are set close by one another, a technique which ought not to be used with the more sensitive emerald. Thanks to its great brilliance, the tsavorite is, in this respect, a partner to match the classics: diamond, ruby and sapphire.

Green grossular had been rare until 1967, when British gem prospector and geologist Campbell R. Bridges came across a deposit of the mineral in the mountains of north-east Tanzania in a place called Lemshuko, 15 km away from Komolo, the first village. The specimens he found were of very intense color and of high transparency. The find interested the gem trade, and attempts were made to export the stones, but the Tanzanian government did not provide permits.

Believing that the deposit was a part of a larger geological structure extending possibly into Kenya, Bridges began prospecting in that nation. He was successful a second time in 1971, when he found the mineral variety there, and was granted a permit to mine the deposit. The gemstone was only known to mineral specialists Until 1974, when Tiffany and Co launched a marketing campaign which brought broader recognition of the stone. Bridges was murdered in 2009 when a mob attacked him and his son on their property in Tsavo National Park. It is believed that the attack was connected to a three-year dispute over access and control of Bridges' gemstone mines.