Catherine has been designing Tanzanite jewellery since 1996 when very few people in the jewellery trade even knew it existed, it was introduced to her by a gemstone supplier who had a couple of pieces that he had acquired in the hope that it would become popular, and it most certainly did.
It is a gemstone Catherine is incredibly passionate about...
“I love it because for me there is no other gemstone like it. It is a blue stone with purple hues which makes it a softer stone to wear on the skin as opposed to sapphire. For the larger pieces of jewellery I design I endeavour to source the very top quality material however for the smaller pieces I actually prefer to use the colour closer to lavender as I find it softer still, especially when mixing it with other gemstones and diamond, also the gemstones naturally become lighter as they decrease in size due to their depth”
Tanzanite was named by the prestigious Tiffany & Co after the African country of Tanzania, where it was first discovered. A variety of the mineral zoisite, Tanzanite displays hues in the blue to purple range. It is extremely popular in modern jewellery, reflected by the first change in the birthstone list since 1912, naming it as the new birthstone for December. The Masai tribe are said to give Tanzanite to newborn children as a bearer of good fortune. In healing it is useful for harmonising the body that is out of balance, for instance in the case of stress-related physical maladies.
