Tanzanite from Tanzania documentary of Patrick Voillot

[Music] in the shadow of Kilimanjaro the highest mountain in Africa the land of big cats a brush fire broke out forcing all life on this earth to fleet [Music] after the disaster the noble warriors who inhabited the region bent over the charred ground it was studded with stones in fascinating blue and purple hues they had just discovered the tanzanite stone in a place that is called Mariani [Music] Vivian you have a stone that is beautiful it is tanzanite I think yes this is one of the first or maybe even the very first gift from my husband since it's my engagement ring which he bought in the United States from your company in the early 1970s [Music] starting in 1968 the jeweler Tiffany launched a blue purple hue gemstone on the US market they invented a name for this smooth very rare stone found only in Tanzania Tanzania is an East African country situated between the equator and the Tropic of Capricorn its coasts are bathed by the Indian Ocean the language spoken in the country is Swahili part of its economy is based on export of crops like coffee the hunting of large game has been replaced by tourist safaris organized and supervised to avoid disrupting the ecosystem Indians Arabs and other voyagers brought by the monsoon have settled the coasts of Tanzania and the island of Zanzibar they were seeking ivory precious stones and metals found in large quantities in the subsoil full of diamonds rubies garnets and many other treasures an ethnic group of shepherds have settled on the large plateaus in the interior of the country the Masai the Masai are natives of the Nile it was during the 15th century that they migrated to East Africa the Maasai known for being brave warriors believe that all herds of their land belonged to them at one time and still today they embarked on raids to recover stolen cattle in song and dance they honor those who have distinguished themselves by killing a lion armed only with a spear and courage [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] it is in their territory that tanzanite can be found today the stone now called sky-blue tanzanite equal YP where can we find tanzanite in Arusha in Mara Rani yes mara Rani yeah do you want to go there as she thank you [Music] the mines are located east of the Serengeti and the neuron girl crater in these 20,000 square kilometres animals do not know the boundaries of men the large cats are waiting patiently for the northward migration of thousands of wildebeests and zebras their predators mara Rani is the town closest to the minds in an atmosphere like the Wild West without police it grew like a mushroom the blue fever has attracted adventurers from all walks of life and it spawns brothels and bars here they do not speak Swahili but the Masai language mom indeed they hold 95% of the tanzanite trade the young warriors who in the second age group after puberty between ages 28 and 35 predominate in this activity they are the Landy's these proud men have traded in their spears for instruments of gemology they are known for their honesty and uprightness but are formidable negotiators they only trade in tanzanite they buy from the owners of mining concessions Omari is one of them and he offers him his yield intuitively they recognize the quality color and clarity of stones and quickly see the price they can get for them on resale their role is solely that of middlemen between the mine and the sales posts and exportation they never participate in the work of the mind you Everton son you have a tanzanite mine yes I have a tanzanite mine over there it's called Goro Goro I can take you okay here we go the mines are 10 kilometers from Mariani the last mile of dilapidated barracks covered with corrugated iron and built in a hurry around the road driven by dreams of wealth poor people live here in extremely precarious conditions this climate makes this a particularly dangerous perimeter Amara's concession is surrounded by wooden fences that protect it from security intrusions a great tension hovers over the mine that has not produced for several months discoveries are rare the galleries are dug in graphite commonly used as a lubricant in the industry makes the bars very slippery the perpendicular descent generally reaches 40 or 50 meters the galleries are sometimes several kilometers in length graphite which consists almost entirely of pure crystallized carbon is a hard mineral the only way to dig galleries is with dynamite in each mine only a few men with no real training have the right to handle the explosives but many accidents still occur [Music] [Music] in a stifling atmosphere miners flee the blast which sometimes creates the collapse of neighboring tunnels [Music] several explosions punctuate the day while omaree's muscular team recruits 200 men outside of the concession to clear the rubble blocking the bottom of the mine after many months of reduced production of tanzanite these poor people are desperate the life of this region depends on the discovery of this blue stone it is as vital as water in the desert without it famine spreads among these adventurers of fortune each man is searched to prevent him from bringing arms down into the mine indeed if one of them finds tanzanite a fight could break out causing fatal blows they will work at several kilometers depth to empty the sterile minerals and this for the paltry sum of $7 for them it's a small fortune forcing them to accept any conditions to obtain it [Music] [Music] [Music] they will form a human chain that will go down into the deaths for 18 hours like convicts men will pass thousands of bags from hand to hand scanning the ground looking for a purple blue spark that would make them rich several tons of ore will come out of the mine [Music] above ground the weather has changed rapidly the rainy season begins significant rains flood the floor of the mine in 1998 El Nino left a deadly mark on this region several hundred miners were buried alive by mudslides that is why today the Department of Mines requires dealers to put a roof over the holes and to build a walled around them preventing large amounts of water from entering the ore is considered sterile meaning it contains no tanzanite it is rejected outside the mine one apollo' independent miners sort carefully hoping to find some gems you're mine now you have found stones in your mind now yes we found it it's not a very big stone what's this these are tanzanite crystals is that good quality yes they have a beautiful color the color is good it is one of the best it has a beautiful tanzanite color here you can see there are small tanzanites you can see the color is good there are different colors of tanzanite yes yes you can sometimes find very blue tanzanite sometimes clearer tanzanite honey brown but it's all still tanzanite last night yesterday evening we found this and you know it's a good sign it means that perhaps soon we will find beautiful stones beautiful stones we do not know exactly sometimes it takes months sometimes just a few days or maybe we'll find some today Oh even today [Music] at dawn the ground is littered with empty bags the work is completed and the mine is cleared and ready for production tanzanite is found in soil rich in graphite through which passed these famous veins all only in the region of Mary Ronnie it's work it's extremely difficult it's the toughest job I know can take up to 10 years before finding tanzanite people find it tanzanite comes out sometimes they find a lot in general we bring them to wholesalers we're supposed to sell the stones to those who are licensed to export most of the licenses are held by wholesalers and are very rarely held by the miners but when the miner is also a wholesaler he exports the stones directly he obtains permission to remove the stones and he sells them himself directly abroad most tanzanite stones find themselves in the US market when one suspects the presence of tanzanite at the bottom of the mine Oh Mary Goes Down himself to control the output the mine is in labyrinth it is not uncommon during an explosion or perforation that miners find themselves in the tunnel of a neighboring concession in this case the owners poor crong Crete to block the passage at the bottom the temperature reaches 50 degrees centigrade with extremely limited ventilation in this hell from the first few minutes the skin is covered with a thin layer of black graphite on which any cut creates an indelible tattoo in this mine one can speak of a veritable fever of the men who work there the blue fever indeed tanzanite excites them all like a drug that makes them hysterical at the approach of the precious mineral some even say that the stone gives off a particular smell when approaching a pocket of tanzanite [Music] Omari permanently employs 60 to 70 miners who work in these cramped bowels [Music] it is difficult to find a large tanzanite crystal because nature has produced only very few of these exceptional gems crystals exceeding one centimeter are very rare on the other hand the dynamite does great damage explosions fracture and break the crystals often making their size impossible for a lapidary to work with [Music] the electric light gives this stone move shades along the axis at which one looks at the crystal it may seem blue purple or red the scientific name of this stone is zoisite from the name of an Austrian mineralogist von Joyce it is usually brown and sometimes green and is found everywhere in the subsoil of our planet but the blue color in these crystal gems is a rare gift from nature there are only 12 square kilometers in Tanzania where there is this rarity no other deposit in the world produces it it is the jeweler Tiffany that gave it the name tanzanite because zoisite sounds too close to the word suicide in English [Music] [Music] about 600 million years ago tectonic movements created fractures and folds the areas of low density formed at the elbows due to folding from the depths a fluid rich in hydrocarbons containing vanadium migrated substances in the fluid are concentrated and localized in these elbows calcium aluminium silicon oxygen hydrogen and vanadium have organized to form crystals of brown tanzanite in the elevated temperatures around 600 degrees Celsius the vanadium was transformed this transformation gave tanzanite its blue color miners regularly employed by Omari work eight hours at the bottom of the mine but in the case of an important discovery they can remain 12 hours or more in the galleries these men are paid a percentage it can occur that this compensation be given in stones when there is no production the owner gives them food my name is Amari I'm 27 my great hope is that of all miners that one day I'll hit the jackpot middle the item by your to my anyone bah Eco sequel a man can come from the bottom of the mine with enough stones to become rich nobody owns it William is because there are those among us who have found and that offer us help by providing tools now I have the hope that one day I'll find some I'm convinced that day I'll be rich if Luck smiles at me many are the miners who in this makeshift village dream of becoming rich but it is mostly the Maasai who are doing good business when they have to buy lots of stones they come together and discuss how they will find the necessary funds especially when it comes to buying a large batch of tanzanite whatever the circumstances they keep their tribal operation yes so you don't think my daddy said [Music] look into the stone there's a big piece that's clean don't say it too loud don't worry Omari doesn't understand Maasai so you you sell your stones very expensive as if money fell from the sky it's really expensive you said how much 1 million one hundred twenty thousand come on I'm selling them at a very good price I need some money to reinvest directly into the mine okay it's good you can take him [Music] it's yours okay shake my hand once the sale is made the resale will be at the gemstone trading posts of the nearest big town Arusha many are the Messiah who have made the fortune from these stones they put their money into cattle but also for the richest into the construction of modern buildings in Arusha it is even said that one of them stood on top of this building and threw handfuls of bills into the air for distribution to the poor Arusha is a city of 400,000 inhabitants whose economy is largely based on the sale of tanzanite the city grew especially at the end of the socialist regime after 1987 a period when the exploitations were once again privatized Eric and Mark Seoul have a counter for the purchase and export of precious stones in Arusha listen I have 150 carats I need 200 for the order this year makes 22 so 172 I still need 28 carats of small stones ok I'll go see if their Messiah in the waiting room are these the same Messiah who came back yes there are 3 ok have them wait I'll tell you when I have them come in ok thanks a little young boy my buddy do you have stones yes we do welcome we have some for sale do you buy want to buy stones yes we buy what's new in the tanzanite mines nothing special the stones are there what mine does it come from any old mine will you not tell me where it comes from is it your secret yes that's our secret do you not want to tell me your secret is that all the stones you have there are others these cost two million three hundred thousand but the colors not so good on this one there's nothing bad about this stone all of it is good [Applause] thank you [Applause] you see despite all the rain we had recently we still managed to have beautiful stones is this the best quality yes that's what they call triple-a it's not a bad color it's beautiful I know you've traveled you've seen other stuff but for the blue this competes very well with sapphire and is much more beautiful than iolite so Patrick I don't know if you've already seen this it sells very well in the US the triangular shape is said to be modern that too is a shape that sells a lot in the United States and it's starting to work well in Europe too it's called the princess here too with an emerald cut is nice very modern what's really special with these stones is that we find them only here nowhere else in the world plus it's a trichroic stone meaning that when you take a stone and you move you can theoretically see three different reflections the color can vary somewhat from one stone to another but on all the stones of the three colors we see there are always the same two blue and violet the duiker scope separates the different colors contained in iraq and which are invisible to the naked eye because they are mixed the third color may be light green light gray sometimes we even see a red glare when trying on new sizes we experiment with stones that are cheaper garnet rhodolite sometimes even with glass because we cannot afford to experiment with tanzanite it's too expensive once we in the stonecutter have understood how to cut this new size then we can start carving on the tanzanite [Music] the pool is nearly 12 square kilometers everything in this valley which is 12 square kilometers and there are no other pools we lived here as kids in Kenya our father was a geologist who's well known in East Africa I'm John Saul's our two sons Mark and Eric were born in Nairobi and they left for Europe for France in 1974 but they chose to return to East Africa in the 60s and 70s I lived in Kenya in Tanzania where I operated the mines I discovered a few small deposits and I started marketing gems including tanzanite there was a tailor called Manuel de Souza who lived in Arusha in 1967 Suzette found tanzanite I don't know if he found them on the ground or if they were brought to him by the Messiah who lived nearby but I saw these stones come here into my office for the first time after that I went to Sousa several times he was working with his old sewing machine he manufactured uniforms near the door where there was plenty of light and behind there was a bed the first time I went to Sousa he showed me under the bed there were boxes full of tanzanite much of which was of gem quality but then I went a second time the bed was raised he slept raised up because there were more and more boxes under the bed and the third visit the bed was very high he needed a chair to climb into his beds I exported these stones to the US and in shares for multi-dose only ec7 law we've dummy exported these stands here to the US my father who was the president of Saks Fifth Avenue which was almost right next to Tiffany's he went to Tiffany to see if they wanted to sell it the answer was yes much of the tanzanite is cut in Arusha men from India have made it their specialty my name is Pradesh Pandit and I am the owner of the classic gems company located in Arusha I've specialized in the tanzanite trade for 15 years after their removal from the mine these blocks will be preformed into a stone shape the preform is made using a diamond blade this serves to give shape to the stone and removed any inclusions pre-shipping is done to give the stone a shape and this is this will be done to remove any inclusions in the stone and after the stone have been pre shaped when the stones have been preformed it will then be faceted and polished polishing comes after the stone has been faceted when it is heated those facets will be polished after the store when the stone is heated what happens is that the brown hue of the stone disappears leaves the stone and then only the blue or purple is left brownish pink or brownish shed into the rough stone just disappears or it gets out of the stone and you're left with blue this is the reason why the stone looks like this blue blue purple by heating the stone to 600 degrees the brown tint disappears the heat does nothing more to the stone than remove the brown hue of the storm and anything and even years after the treatment the color of the tanzanite does not change it remains as it is for years and years years after the stone has been treated by heat this that the color of the egg does not change at all it stays the same years tanzanite has got three axes tanzanite has three axes blue purple and brown table when you place the table on the blue axis having been carved the stone will be blue when you put when the table is placed on the violet axis the stone will be purple when the table is placed on the brown access the stone will be a purple blue sometimes more purplish sometimes more blue it depends on the strength of the access in the color depending on which axis is more solid in color the rough wishes seen but for me there are two kinds of rough stones here is a tanzanite in its natural state which needs not be heated naturally and do not require heat enhancement these tools and these stones must be heated and maybe 99% of the extracted blocks need to be heated before him the three best qualities of tanzanite are triple a double a and a because of this it is because of its exotic appearance and the fascination that the stone exerts on me that I've specialized in tanzanite that's the reason I have specialized in tanzanite most of the stones most of the stones that I buy I cut and I mainly export to the United States but also to Germany Hong Kong Thailand and some other European countries but my main market is the United States 80% of my production goes to the United States of my production goes to the United States [Music] the majority of tanzanite is marketed in the great annual gem sale in Tucson Arizona in the US market it is the second best selling blue stone after sapphire tanzanite has suffered a decline in international markets in the past two years this was due to a rumor that sales from the stone had funded al Qaeda the rumor has since been officially refuted which has allowed it to resume its place [Music] [Music] in Arusha the starting point of great luxury safaris small shops will send brokers onto the street to trap some foreign newcomers it's mostly women who are responsible for this work the owner entrusts his gemstones to them and sets her prices the stones sold will be paid back to him and the difference between the sale price and the fixed price will be the compensation of the broker the stones that are not sold at the end of the day will be returned to the owner you can find everything on the streets of Arusha except for tanzanite all the blue stones are reviewed such as cordierite iolite that can be confused with tanzanite because of its color the price is extremely low because it is a very common gemstone this scam is also very common for that matter the brokers also offer imitations made of blue glass with no inclusions whatsoever but whose color is very close to that of tanzanite the only way to tell in this case is to use a device that can determine the refractive index of the stone which is the ratio between the speed of light in the air and its speed through the gem this index is specific for each gemstone in this case this stone has a refractive index of 1.5 to it cannot be tanzanite since tanzanite has an index of between one point six nine one and one point seven [Music] [Music] for tourists unaware of the secrets of gemology it is extremely dangerous to buy on the street the best solution is to go to stores where specialists engage their experience and responsibilities when you're ignorant or ill-advised deals and precious stones are sometimes very expensive as you can see one of the specificities of tanzanite is that every stone is different some are blue others purple and others are more purple than blue the darker ones are better quality yes they are what the market prefers here look this is what it's called an emerald cut it's beautiful very beautiful it's a nearly six carat stone the stones are paid by weight one carat equals 0.2 grams what is the price of this one for example it costs $2,200 and you know what the price would be to get it set into a ring know what I recommend is that you look at different models back home and choose a setting that fits exactly what you like then you can go see a local jeweler and have it made the ring you bring back from Tanzania will be unique [Music] the majority of tanzanite is not sold in its country of origin it is exported officials from the Ministry of Mines visit the trading posts to complete the necessary formalities for export after checking the number of stones and their weight they are enclosed in a special box will be forced to close this package well is there a lot of bags we'll have to put them properly into the box are there too many yes there's a slight problem here but we'll settle it so three bags before leaving do you want me to sign the documents now or later sooner would be better the box is sealed by officials from the Ministry of Mines and will no longer be opened on Tanzanian territory don't read more from any additions 423,000 shillings the exporter will pay taxes based on the declared value of the stones [Music] the transport of the stones is the responsibility of the exporter and it is made under their responsibility [Music] [Music] once at the destination formalities and taxes will be acquitted in accordance with the local laws of each country in France a freight forwarder who is a merchant of precious stones is in charge of the customs clearance for the exporter thus simplifying the formalities the customs office specializing in precious stones is notified in the boxes sealed again if customs does not show the desire to control the goods from the freight forwarder in the next hour the box can be opened and transactions can begin tell me in there will we have the famous tanzanite we expect the one with the pillow cut with the client under requested yes yes [Music] that's it tanzanite that's very beautiful sitting Bhagu venomoth it is special it's a ring created by Paloma Picasso especially for you your mother was adamant that you have a tanzanite ring because her engagement ring was tanzanite [Music] how much longer will the earth give this precious gem to the Messiah some say it will disappear when large animals no longer walk the earth [Music]

Channel: Voillot Patrick

Views: 1,216,112

Keywords: documentary, gemmologist, gemstone, precious stones, gemmology, patrick voillot, pierre précieuse, pierres précieuses, jewelry, stone, movie, tv, frenchtv, jeweler, prices, million dollars, expedition, mine, mining, Place Vendôme, Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, blue-mauve, Tanzanite, adventure, miners, graphite, Massais, Arusha, Tiffany, Tiffany’s

Id: 5TD9z8mPO1c

Length: 51min 21sec (3081 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 13 2019