He's been closely involved
with tanzanite mining / geology since 1999 and, prior to becoming CEO, was a consultant and then director to the company.
To date, the US has been the biggest market,
with tanzanite often chosen as a birthstone for new mothers.
I would love to add some bling
with the tanzanite swarovski crystal locket.
Not exact matches
Thai artisan Saranarat's long fascination
with the natural beauty of gemstones comes through in this station necklace featuring freeform natural
tanzanite and faceted amethyst.
Five radiant blue - violet
tanzanite stones
with a total weight of one carat gleam brightly in this multi-stone ring.
It's harder than
tanzanite (at 7 - 7.5 on the Mohs Scale),
with a correspondingly higher price (2 - 4 times that of
tanzanite).
There has been a changing business mix (of rough, polished and jewelry) over the years, but v clearly the credit crunch / recession caused a price crash in
tanzanite (to $ 5.69 per carat in 2009),
with a slow recovery to $ 8.89 since then.
And
with the price of
tanzanite still sufficiently beaten down since 2008/09, I'd venture that a recession wouldn't necessarily impact it further at this point anyway...
There are also high hopes in the industry that an increased Asian preference / acceptance for coloured gemstones, coupled
with increasing incomes / aspirations, means there is huge untapped potential to sell
tanzanite in China, India and the rest of Asia.