gems, corundum, Tanzania.12

East Africa continues to produce astounding gems. One example is shown in figure 17: a 2.28 ct bright slightly reddish orange natural sapphire from the Tunduru region of Tanzania, shown by Malhotra Inc., New York City. Mr. Malhotra said that he had not seen a stone of such color in his 40 years in the trade. The stone had been cut in Bangkok and may have been heat treated. Other unusual materials from Tanzania (seen at the booths of New Era Gems, Grass Valley, California) included: peridot and mint" (light green) and "honey" (brownish yellow) grossular from Mcrelani; and light-pink and light-purple to "rose pink" spinel from Pokot, near Tunduru. According to Bill Vance of New Era Gems, some blue-to-purple spinels from Tunduru look pink when viewed through the Chelsea filter, so he suspects that they contain cobalt."