ID on possible tanzanite?

[Moonstonelover]

Was sold this loose stone in Afghanistan. Vendor told me it was tanzanite. I'm curious what y'all think! Thank you! It sparkles all colours of the rainbow

 

[pwsg07]

Tanzanite has very strong pleochroism. Turn the stone in different direction. If you observe different colours in different directions, it is very likely tanzanite.

 

[Moonstonelover]

Thank you!
Indeed it does seem to shift from a pale blue gray violet to a pinker brighter violet!

 

[Austina]

I know it's really difficult to tell just from a photo, but it looks more like the colour of Kunzite to me. Either way, it's really pretty.

 

[chatoyancy]

As my late grandmother used to say, "I don't know what it is, but it's beautiful".

Another possibility is spinel. My kunzite and tanzanite don't shift much, but my spinels do. However, if it's an ingested tanzanite, I agree with pwsg07, that pleochroism would cause shifts in color.

 

[chrono]

Tanzanite is trichroic, so when viewed from the 3 different axis, you should see 3 different colours. The picture below is a tanzanite viewed from 3 different directions; the long plane, the short plane, and across it.

 

[chatoyancy]

Oh geez, autocorrect strikes again. So sorry, please don't ingest your stone!