{"id":17282,"date":"2025-11-27T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.serendipitydiamonds.com\/blog\/?p=17282"},"modified":"2025-11-27T14:48:30","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T14:48:30","slug":"december-birthstones-tanzanite-turquoise-and-blue-zircon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.serendipitydiamonds.com\/blog\/december-birthstones-tanzanite-turquoise-and-blue-zircon\/","title":{"rendered":"Magical December Birthstones – Tanzanite, Turquoise and Blue Zircon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you’re lucky enough to celebrate your birthday in December<\/strong>, you have the choice of three amazing birthstones<\/strong>, which include Tanzanite, Turquoise and Zircon.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tanzanite slider necklace, created by bespoke jewellery design at Serendipity<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Within the Serendipity Diamonds showroom and workshop on the Isle of Wight, we create many jewellery designs each year. We create a wide variety of designs with all of the December birthstones. Jewellery includes ready-made items from our window and a vast array of bespoke designs created individually for clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tanzanite – No.1 Choice of Birthstone for December<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Tanzanite is the most popular birthstone choice for December. This luxurious gemstone captivates buyers with its incredible range of violet to blue tones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what is Tanzanite? Interestingly, this incredible gemstone is a variety of the mineral Zoisite. Tanzanite exists in a variety of shades ranging from blue to violetish blue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Tanzanite<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The colouration occurs due to the presence of the element Vanadium within the mineral. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the name suggests, Tanzanite originates from Tanzania\u2014a gemstone prized for its amazing colour and rarity. Crystalline trichroism causes the violet colour to vary under different conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When mined, most Tanzanite has a reddish-brown tinge, which is removed by heat treatment to enhance the gemstone’s prevailing blue-violet colour. For this reason, most Tanzanite is heat-treated to improve its colour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Tanzanite<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The History and Origin of Tanzanite<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Commonly known as the modern-day gemstone. Tanzanite was discovered as late as 1967 in Merelani Hills near Arusha, Tanzania, by Maasai herders. It is very close to the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro. News spread quickly, and the government gave permission for mining to begin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initially, it was thought to be a sapphire mine. However, it was quickly identified by its crystal structure as a vibrant blue variety of zoisite, a mineral that had been around since the early 1800s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thereafter, Tanzanite grew in popularity as an affordable gemstone compared to sapphire. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"december's<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Example of a round Tanzanite showing the distinctive blue-violet colouration associated with this type of gemstone.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Vintage Tanzanite and Diamond Bespoke Ring <\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Our example ring comes from our bespoke jewellery service and was made in 950 Platinum. A one-of-a-kind Blue Tanzanite added contrast against small 1mm diamonds. The diamonds added incredible sparkle. Furthermore, the unique effect varied from other halo-style settings<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tanzanite was added to December’s birthstones as recently as 2002.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, the name ‘Zoisite’ was avoided owing to a similarity to the word ‘suicide.’ For this reason, the name Tanzanite was used as a more appropriate name for this incredible gemstone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Tanzanite<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Eleanor halo ring features an incredible blue Tanzanite surrounded by diamonds. <\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to jewellery designs, we recommend Tanzanite for both earrings and pendants. A Tanzanite engagement ring requires care during wear. This semi-fragile gemstone is more prone to damage than diamonds or sapphires. As a result, we never recommend this gemstone to clients who are worried about damaging their ring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n