With an African drum player performance and a showcase of loose tanzanite on display, the Tanzanite Foundation and the American Gem Trade Association Gemological Testing Center (AGTA-GTC) celebrated the latter's launch of Tanzanite Grading Reports at a cocktail party at the Cornell Club in Manhattan on Monday night.

The reports utilize the Tanzanite Quality Scale, an internationally recognized tanzanite-specific grading system that was launched in North America in March 2007 and in Hong Kong in September 2007. Officials from the Tanzanite Foundation say they hope to establish a universal standard for grading tanzanite to help boost trade and consumer confidence in the purplish-blue stones and to encourage a more comprehensive and consistent understanding of tanzanite's qualities and rarity.

Read Full Story