Zoisite (var: Tanzanite)

Item Description

Some minerals are almost exclusively connected to a single world locality, and while Zoisite is found in other parts of the world, the blue/purple variety Tanzanite is strictly found in the Merelani Hills of Tanzania. These iconic crystals are incredibly distinctive and beautiful with their vivid colors and wonderful gemminess. This piece is a good example of these classic specimens featuring a single, sharp, lustrous, prism with good color saturation. The piece shows nice pleochroism as it changes from blue on the "a" axis to purple on the "b" axis. A few small nicks can be seen, but overall the piece is in very good shape and it's complete all around, with a bit of attached Graphite at the base. From the collection of Vasco Trancoso, a medical doctor and prominent mineral collector from near Lisbon, Portugal (https://www.mindat.org/user-11954.html). He assembled his mineral collection over the course of 60 years, and built a fine worldwide display collection that we recently purchased. This piece is pictured on mindat.org at https://www.mindat.org/photo-184889.html