L’Heure Bleu Tanzanite Carving

Artist Naomi Sarna was invited to travel to the Tanzanite mines located in the foothills of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. She was asked to create a carving for an international design competition that would also benefit the Maasai people. The mines are part of the ancestral land of the Maasai and it is the only place in the world where this blue-violet gemstone is found. Touched by the community and the poverty she witnessed, Sarna spent time with the Maasai women and taught them how to make jewelry from Tanzanite.

While she was in Tanzania, Sarna hunted through piles of rough Tanzanite eventually selecting the piece that she hand-carved into the 703-carat L’Heure Bleu, the world’s largest fine color tanzanite carving. It won a First-Place Spectrum Award for carving from the American Gem Trade Association and sits on a Sterling Silver base inspired by the winds of Tanzania’s Great Rift Valley. Profits from the sale of the L’Heure Bleu carving will be donated to the Maasai to provide eye care for the community.

• Sterling Silver
• 703-carats
• H 6 in. x W 4 ¾ in. x D 2 in.