No, no, no, no!! Tanzanite is NOT a good investment

[T L]

I like this vendor, I hated when I saw this on his youtube video stream today. I had thought better of him.

 

[T L]

This gorgeous ring can't even sell that easily.

 

[Neptune]

I like this vendor, I hated when I saw this on his youtube video stream today. I had thought better of him.

He said that A LOT, pretty much every time when selling his tanzanite inventory.

 

[Avondale]

Sooo the reasoning behind investing in tanzanite is… it’s really pretty and the mines will become exhausted some time in the foreseeable future? I’m in no way an expert in this, but it doesn’t seem like enough reason to me. What if no one wants tanzanites in two decades?

 

[Mrsz1ppy]

I think tanzanite is pretty, but it’s too soft for me. I find it interesting when I buy from a new vendor, they will frequently follow up with offering me a tanzanite ring.

 

[T L]

The market is oversaturated with tanzanite, even fine ones. I think it’s a beautiful gem too, but one should buy it for its beauty, not an investment. The durability is also an issue, and while Mr. Moriarty warns about some soft gems in rings, he has a video all about tanzanite engagements rings.

I do enjoy browsing his website, but he sells tons of tanzanite, as does JTV.

 

[lovedogs]

The market is oversaturated with tanzanite, even fine ones. I think it’s a beautiful gem too, but one should buy it for its beauty, not an investment. The durability is also an issue, and while Mr. Moriarty warns about some soft gems in rings, he has a video all about tanzanite engagements rings.

I do enjoy browsing his website, but he sells tons of tanzanite, as does JTV.

That's unfortunate, I also thought better of him. I love tanzanite and think it's really pretty, but certainly not an investment

 

[LilAlex]

I will get one one day. It's a shame because all the scammy pyramid-scheme/multi-level marketing ethos has made the whole thing seem so down-market. As I have said before, whenever I see a too-good-to-be-true hyper-vivid sapphire in an unfamiliar shop, it is always a tanzanite!

I bought a sapphire ring once in the hopes of cannibalizing the center stone and replacing it with a custom-cut tanzanite to preserve the "appearance integrity" of the old ring. I will do that some day. If it gets scratched, I can pop in another, I guess.

 

[Bron357]

Few if any gemstones are suitable as “investments”. Too many variables to consider. You need to also consider insurance and storage costs.
Hindsight is wonderful but you can’t extrapolate past results into future.
Certainly old stock Burmese rubies would have been a good investments as would have Arygle pink diamonds if bought ”back in the day”.
More recently Paraiba Tourmaline when first found, before they knew supply was limited and Padparadscha sapphires, prior to Princess Eugene making them flavour of the month.
Realistically the best one can hope with gemstones is for them maintaining value while being enjoyed.

 

[PrecisionGem]

Whenever I see "investment" and gemstone in the sentence I cringe. To me, and investment is some thing that will grow in value over time and can quickly be turned into cash. I remember when mediocre tanzanites sold for $1000 per ct, now they are less than half of that, and as a consumer, it's much harder to sell a stone than a jeweler or dealer. Tanzanite prices have been a roller coaster since it's discovery.

Some much better investments....

 

[voce]

A better investment would have been Nvidia when it rose from $20 in 2015 to $1200+ in 2020 or 2021. A stock split means you are looking at 1/4 of the earlier price and maximum. I don't think even Burmese rubies of 2-3 cts, typically mentioned as investment grade, can appreciate that quickly. It's far less likely, though, that Burmese rubies will lose their value as stocks are known to do eventually, someday.

I don't think gems are investments, just an alternative asset. Some of them are stores of "value" to guard against inflation.

 

[T L]

Unheated fine Burmese rubies of size > 3 carats, and certain large fancy colored diamonds in rare desirable colors are perhaps investments. The S&P 500 itself is a better investment!

For decades now, all I’ve been hearing about tanzanite is that the “mine is drying up” but yet it’s all I see on the shopping channels and in mall stores. If you see a particular stone a lot on the shopping channels or mall stores, that’s a good indicator that it’s not that valuable or rare.

 

[PrecisionGem]

Investment aside, I do think a nice tanzanite is a very pretty gemstone. It's a tough stone to make any money on cutting however; the price of the rough, even if you go to Arusha and the chance you take with heating and the final color kind of make what we call a "dreamers stone". I can't tell you how many tanzanite I cut and sold at cost or a loss over the years.