Four Gemstones Introduced by Tiffany & Co.
Tiffany & Co. has been an innovator in luxury and design since its founding in 1837. It was the first retailer to have an in-house gemstone expert, Frederick George Kunz, and he was a big part of Tiffany & Co.’s rise to fame, in part because he was responsible for introducing two new colored gemstones to the world during his tenure. Years after Kunz left, the company debuted two more gemstones. What are these gems and how did they get to Tiffany & Co.? Read on for their stories.
Kunzite

In 1902, miners in San Diego were baffled by the lovely lilac-pink color of a mineral they unearthed. They thought it was a mineral known as spodumene, but it had never before been seen in that color, so they weren’t really sure what it was. To answer the question, the rock was sent to Tiffany & Co. gem expert, Frederick George Kunz. He confirmed that the pastel pink stone was spodumene. It was, however, the color that made it a “new” gemstone. Kunzite gets its color from traces of the element manganese when the stone is forming and tends to be large with few inclusions. It’s a gemstone that’s a little moody, the color may fade if exposed to heat or bright light. The gem was named Kunzite, to honor George Kunz, in 1903 by Charles Baskerville, a chemistry professor at the University of North Carolina and the City College of New York.
Morganite

George Kunz was the one who discovered and brought Morganite to the world. In 1910, while he was visiting the gem rich island nation of Madagascar, Kunz came upon a rose colored beryl, which ended up being the first Morganite. The gem is a pink to orange variety of beryl, the same mineral family as emerald and aquamarine and it gets its color from traces of the element manganese. The gem tends to be peachy in color and is much admired for its pastel hue. Most morganite may be found in
Brazil, it’s also sometimes found, although sporadically, in Afghanistan, Mozambique, Namibia and the United States. At the suggestion of George Kunz, morganite was named after financier JP Morgan, who made major contributions to the American Museum of Natural History and the Museum of Natural History in Paris, as well as being an avid gem and mineral collector himself.
Tanzanite
The Merelani Hills at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania is the only place in the world where the gemstone tanzanite is found. In 1967 prospector Manuel de Souza discovered this new variety of blue-violet zoisite. De Souza showed the stone to Henry B. Platt, Tiffany & Co. vice president and great-great-great-grandson of Charles Lewis Tiffany, the retailer’s founder. Platt named it Tanzanite after Tanzania where it was discovered. Tanzanite has pleochroism, which means that the crystal shows different colors when viewed in different directions. It tends to look more blue in fluorescent light and more violet in incandescent light, a balance of the two colors is considered most desirable. Platt asked Tiffany & Co. designer Donald Claflin to design a collection using tanzanite in 1968. The collection launched and tanzanite became Tiffany & Co.’s second most popular gem after diamonds.
Tsavorite Garnet

A rare type of green garnet, tsavorite was first discovered in 1967 by Scottish geologist Campbell R. Bridges near the border of Tanzania and Kenya. Bridges couldn’t get mining rights in Tanzania, so he traced the mineral deposit to Kenya, where he was able to mine. Tsavorite needs a particular rock chemistry and conditions to grow. The green hue comes from traces of the elements vanadium and sometimes chromium. Tsavorite tends to be found in smaller sizes,
gems over 2-carats are considered rare, and gems over 3-carats are considered super rare. The gem was shown to Platt in 1974. He named the gem tsavorite after the Tsavo River and Tsavo National Park where it was found. Tsavorite is sometimes found in small quantities in Madagascar and Pakistan.
We all owe a big thank you to Tiffany & Co. for introducing the world to kunzite, morganite, tanzanite and tsavorite, stunning gems that are now part of the palette used by designers all over the globe to create outstanding jewelry.
Top of Page: Diamond, 5.12-carat tsavorite garnet center stone and 18-karat white gold ring.
Diamond, 30-carat kunzite and 18-karat gold pendant, circa 1970s; Diamond, morganite and platinum swan brooch; Diamond, tanzanite and platinum earrings; Diamond, 4.04-carat tsavorite garnet, 18-karat gold and platinum ring.
Authored by Amber Michelle