Named after the country Tanzania from which it's extracted, Tanzanite is a rare, moderately expensive, deeply saturated blue/violet gemstone commonly used to make jewelry. There are a couple close imitations Tanzanite to include: Tanzanique and blue/lavender colored Cubic Zirconia. The gemstone industry is working a uniform scale of color/quality, however there are currently a couple widely used systems.

Naturally scattered across the Meralani Hills of northern Tanzania, Tanzanite is a form of the mineral Zoisite and belongs to the Epidot mineral group.  Not the most durable group of minerals with the exception of Tanzanite, this gemstone is commonly used to make fine jewelry such as rings, necklaces and bracelets.

There are of course Tanzanite imitations. One of which is a form of Fosterite called Tanzanique. Though it closely mimics the color of Tanzanite, it does not display the same pleochroism. Another imposter is the "periwinkle" blue/lavender colored Cubic Zirconia.

While there is currently no universally accepted method for grading the quality of tanzanite, these are the two systems most recognized:

TanzaniteOne has established a nonprofit group called The Tanzanite Foundation for developing a quality grading system that justifies a wider range of prices. This new system divides tanzanite into two hues: blue/violet and violet/blue, each has ten saturation levels that follows.
- vivid exceptional 1.2
- vivid 1.3
- vivid 2.4
- intense 1.5
- intense 2.6
- fancy 1.7
- fancy 2.8
- light 1.9
- light 2.10
- pail

Though very similar, the world prestigious G.I.A. still uses a different system of measuring Tanzanite saturation and the strength or purity of a color/hue.
1-  gr - grayish in cool colors / brownish in warm colors
2- slgr -  slightly grayish in cool colors / brownish in warm colors
3- vslgr - very slightly grayish / brownish in warm colors
4- mst - moderately strong
5- st - strong
6- v - vivid

Adding to the previous scale, Etanzanite.com has simplified how gem color is determined:
vb1- vBgr - violetish blue showing grayish overtones of color
vb2- vBslgr - violetish blue showing slightly grayish overtones of color
vb3- vBvslgr - violetish blue showing very slightly grayish overtones of color
vB4- vBmst - violetish blue showing moderately strong saturation of color
vB5- vBst - violetish blue showing strong saturation of color
vB6- vBv - violietish blue showing vivid saturation of color

Formally volatile, the price structure of quality Tanzanite gemstones has stabilized a bit due mostly to TanzaniteOne's "Sight Holder" system. The average wholesale price for good quality Tanzanite as of March 2007, now ranges from $500- $1200 USD.

So how did Tanzanite form?
Millions of years ago metamorphic Schists, Geneisses and Quartzities formed flat-topped inselbergs on a vast plain in Kilimanjaro. These crystals then gradually grow though mineral deposits on the inside to form modern day tanzanite.