Sapphire Vs Tanzanite

Sapphire and Tanzanite are both beautiful gemstones that can come in a very similar blue colour. Sapphire is the mineral corundum and can also have a variety of other hues including pink, yellow & green. Tanzanite officially only comes in blue because other colours of tanzanite are actually varieties of zoistite which includes colours such as green, peacock & peach. 

When it comes to brilliance which refers to how much the gems sparkle, they are both quite similar. 

What are the differences between tanzanite & sapphire? 

DIFFERENCE #1

Sapphire has a hardness of 9 on the Mohs scale and is only second to diamond whereas tanzanite is 6-6.5 on the Mohs scale meaning it is slightly softer and therefore less durable. This means tanzanite should be set into protective settings and is ideally best suited for occasional wear whereas sapphire is well suited for everyday wear. Shop Lucy Jurado sapphire rings. 

DIFFERENCE #2 

Tanzanite typically has a strong violet blue hue whereas sapphire typically has a royal blue or a cornflower blue hue. Although this is most common, sometimes a tanzanite will display a purer blue hue like sapphire and sapphire will display a stronger purple blue hue like a tanzanite. 

DIFFERENCE #3 

Tanzanite is usually a much cleaner stone than sapphire, meaning it usually has much better clarity. Tanzanite is regarded as a type 1 gemstone and sapphire is regarded as a type 2 gemstone by the GIA grading system meaning that sapphires are usually much more included than tanzanite. 

DIFFERENCE #4 

Tanzanite rough is trichroic meaning that it can change colour three times based on the viewing angle. Once heated however, tanzanite is dichroic meaning it changes colour from two different angles which is the same as sapphire. 

DIFFERENCE #5

Tanzanite is a rarer stone than sapphire. There is only one mine in the world that contains tanzanite stones - which is in the foothills of Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Once this mine is fully depleted then Tanzanite will become extinct. Sapphire, while still relatively rare, is mined in various locations around the world. 

DIFFERENCE #6 

Sapphires are more expensive. Even though tanzanite is rarer than sapphire, more often sapphires will command higher premiums than tanzanite because sapphires have a long history,  connection with royalty, greater hardness, greater durability & have had a lot of exposure to the public by jewellers marketing their qualities. These factors mean that demand for sapphire is much greater than tanzanite, which was only discovered within the last century. 

So for a similar beauty, especially so with the highest grades, tanzanite is a more affordable option. Shop Lucy Jurado tanzanite rings.