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Tsavorite Garnet

Tsavorite is the green variety of grossular garnet, coloured by vanadium and chromium, mined along the border of Kenya and Tanzania. It is never treated, it is brighter and tougher than emerald, and clean stones above two carats are rare, which places fine tsavorite among the scarcest green gems in the trade. Byrex Gems offers tsavorite garnet to the jewellery trade from Toronto, filmed unedited, with prices for approved buyers and viewings by appointment.

Where to buy tsavorite garnet in Toronto

Byrex Gems lists 10 tsavorite garnet online today. Viewings are at our Toronto office, 27 Queen Street East, Suite 407, steps from Queen subway station, by appointment. We have supplied coloured gemstones and natural fancy colour diamonds to jewellers and designers since 1988, and welcome private clients by appointment. Prices are shown to approved trade accounts; private clients can ask us on WhatsApp, where we reply within 12 hours, or by email within 24 hours. Every stone ships insured, worldwide.

Among the tsavorite garnet listed today: 3.19 ct Cushion Tsavorite Garnet, 2.70 ct Square Cushion Tsavorite Garnet, 2.58 ct Pear Tsavorite Garnet, 2.51 ct Oval Tsavorite Garnet, 2.29 ct Cushion Tsavorite Garnet, 2.01 ct Oval Tsavorite Garnet, 2.01 ct Pear Tsavorite Garnet, 1.53 ct Oval Tsavorite Garnet, 1.52 ct Emerald Cut Tsavorite Garnet, 1.52 ct Oval Tsavorite Garnet.

What is tsavorite and where is it mined?

Tsavorite is grossular, a calcium aluminium garnet, coloured green by traces of vanadium and, in some stones, chromium. Garnet is cubic, so tsavorite is singly refractive with no pleochroism and a high refractive index, which gives it a crisp brilliance that emerald cannot match. It is 7 to 7.5 on the Mohs scale, has no cleavage, and is usually free of the open fissures that make emerald fragile, so it is a practical stone for rings. The colour runs from a light, slightly yellowish green through a vivid, pure green to a deep, slightly bluish green in the finest stones.

All commercial tsavorite comes from a belt of metamorphic rock that runs from south-eastern Kenya into north-eastern Tanzania. The Scottish geologist Campbell Bridges found green grossular in Tanzania in 1967 and, after working the Tanzanian deposit became impossible, located the Kenyan deposits near Tsavo in the early 1970s. Mining today is concentrated in Kenya's Taita-Taveta county and in Tanzania around Merelani, Lemshuko and Komolo. The deposits are pockets and lenses rather than continuous veins, which is why supply is irregular and large crystals are uncommon.

How laboratories describe tsavorite

A report identifies the stone as natural garnet, usually with the variety named as grossular and the trade name tsavorite given in the laboratory's own form. There is no known treatment for tsavorite, no heating, no filling, no irradiation, and reports from GIA, Gübelin, SSEF, GRS, Lotus and AGL normally state that no indications of treatment were found. This is one of the few important coloured stones for which the word untreated can be used without qualification.

Origin opinions for tsavorite are less common than for ruby, sapphire or emerald, because the whole supply comes from one geological belt and the distinction between the Kenyan and Tanzanian sides is of limited commercial importance. Where a laboratory does state origin it is given as a country, as an opinion based on inclusions and chemistry, and may be recorded as inconclusive. The name tsavorite itself was coined by Tiffany & Co. in 1974 after Tsavo National Park in Kenya.

The terms buyers hear are mostly about colour. "Chrome tsavorite" or "chrome green" is used by dealers for stones whose green is particularly vivid; it is a description rather than a laboratory category. "Mint garnet" describes light, bright green grossular below tsavorite saturation.

What to check before buying a tsavorite

Judge the colour viewed from the top under daylight-equivalent light and then a warm lamp; good tsavorite holds a clean green in both and does not go yellowish or dark. Avoid stones that are so dark the green turns blackish in the centre, a common fault in deep material cut to save weight, and stones so light that they read as mint garnet.

Tsavorite is usually clean. Typical inclusions are fine needles, small crystals and healed fractures; because the stone is singly refractive and bright, inclusions show more than they would in emerald, and an eye-clean stone is the expectation above a carat. Check cut quality carefully: a well-proportioned cushion, oval or round returns light across the whole face, while a window dulls the colour.

Sizes are the main constraint. Clean, well-coloured stones above two carats are scarce, above five carats rare, and anything larger is a collector's stone. Small calibrated tsavorite, on the other hand, is readily available and widely used as side stones, in pavé and in layouts, where its consistency of colour and lack of treatment are an advantage. Byrex lists two stones as a pair only when the parcel paper or report says so, and otherwise as a close match.

What drives the value of a tsavorite

Colour drives value first. The market pays most for a vivid, saturated green of medium tone, pure or very slightly bluish, with no yellow and no grey. Lighter stones and darker, blackish stones drop away on either side.

Size is the second driver and it climbs steeply. Because the deposits are small pockets and the crystals are often fractured, clean rough large enough for a stone of two carats is uncommon, and the per-stone step from one carat to three and from three to five is pronounced. Clarity counts more than in emerald, since clean material is the norm, and cut quality is rewarded because the stone's brilliance makes proportions visible.

The absence of treatment is a baseline rather than a premium, as every tsavorite is untreated; what it does is make the stone attractive to buyers who want to avoid treated emerald altogether. Origin adds little except where a laboratory report is required by a client. Compared with emerald, a tsavorite of the same colour and size is usually priced well below, which is part of the appeal for designers; compared with other green garnets such as demantoid, it competes on brightness and durability rather than dispersion.

Tsavorite compared with emerald

Tsavorite and emerald are both green, and both owe their colour largely to chromium and vanadium, but they are different minerals with different behaviour on the bench and in wear. Emerald is beryl, 7.5 to 8 on the Mohs scale, almost always included and almost always fissure-filled with oil or resin. Tsavorite is garnet, 7 to 7.5, usually clean and never treated. In practice tsavorite is the tougher stone, because its lack of open fissures and cleavage means it survives setting, ultrasonic cleaning and daily wear with far less risk.

Optically, tsavorite is singly refractive with a higher refractive index, so it is brighter and crisper, while emerald shows the softer, glowing green that collectors prize. Tsavorite's colour sits closer to a pure green; emerald's finest colour has a slight blue.

The two differ most in size and supply. Emerald is available in large sizes, with enhancement; tsavorite above two carats is rare in any grade. That rarity, together with the stone's youth as a commercial gem, discovered in 1967 and named in 1974, explains why fine tsavorite has gained steadily in the trade and now appears at auction in its own right.

Buying tsavorite garnet from Byrex Gems

A Toronto house for the jewellery trade since 1988, Byrex Gems counts more than seven thousand jewellers, designers and dealers among its customers. Many of our tsavorites are accompanied by reports from GRS, SSEF, Gübelin, GIA and other leading laboratories, and each is filmed in our office so that you can judge it before it travels.

Prices are shown to approved trade buyers. For anything else, WhatsApp +1 (437) 450-3786 reaches us within hours, and info@byrex.com is answered the same day, seven days a week. What is listed is a part of what we hold: more tsavorites are kept in the vault, and what we do not hold ourselves we can source through our offices worldwide. Viewings are by appointment in Toronto, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Dubai.

Tsavorite Garnet: questions buyers ask

Is tsavorite treated or heated?

No. There is no known treatment for tsavorite garnet. Reports from GIA, Gübelin, SSEF, GRS, Lotus and AGL normally state that no indications of treatment were found, and the stone can be described as untreated without qualification.

How rare is tsavorite above two carats?

Rare. The deposits are small pockets and the crystals are often fractured, so clean, well-coloured stones above two carats are scarce and above five carats very rare. Small calibrated tsavorite, by contrast, is readily available.

Is tsavorite a good alternative to emerald?

For many pieces, yes. Tsavorite is brighter, tougher, usually clean and never treated, so it suits rings worn daily. Emerald offers the softer glowing green collectors prize and comes in larger sizes. They are different looks rather than substitutes.

Where does the name tsavorite come from?

Tiffany & Co. named the stone in 1974 after Tsavo National Park in Kenya, near the deposits that Campbell Bridges located in the early 1970s after first finding green grossular in Tanzania in 1967.

Which reports does Byrex supply with tsavorite?

Reports from GIA, Gübelin, SSEF, GRS, Lotus or AGL depending on the stone, identifying natural grossular garnet and confirming no indications of treatment. Origin, where stated, is given as Kenya or Tanzania as an opinion. Small calibrated stones are often sold without individual reports.

Does Byrex supply calibrated tsavorite for manufacturing?

Yes. Tsavorite's consistent colour and lack of treatment make it well suited to calibrated sizes, pairs and layouts. Byrex supplies from its own stock and sources parcels through its offices and partners for a specified size, shape, colour and quantity.

Does Byrex sell tsavorite to private clients?

Byrex sells to the jewellery trade and receives private clients by appointment at its Toronto office. Prices are shown only to approved trade buyers who sign in. Private clients can view stones and have a piece made through their jeweller or through Byrex.

Can I view tsavorite in Toronto?

Yes, by appointment at 27 Queen Street East, Suite 407, Toronto. Each stone is filmed unedited so the video matches the stone on the tray, and any laboratory report is available to examine alongside it.

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