Katerina Perez rejoice the festive month of December in full swing, it’s time to celebrate one of its trio of birthstones: tanzanite. This inky bluish-purple gem is a beautiful choice for high jewellery creations, including many that took centre stage during Haute Couture Week on Place Vendôme. Let’s explore its depths with a selection of our favourite tanzanite creations and plenty of other zoisite treasures to covet.

The tanzanite gem is a relatively new find for the gemmological world. It was discovered in 1967 on the hills of Merelani in northern Tanzania, which remains to this day the only source of tanzanite available in the world. Named after its home country by Tiffany & Co., this variety of zoisite is available in deep violet and blue colour ways, with the darkest blue being the scarcest and, therefore, most valuable. Despite being relatively new on the block, it’s no surprise that this stone was one of the main characters at this year’s Paris Couture Week, with our top picks featured below…

Boucheron Once in a Blue Moon Suite! This year’s Carte Blanche collection by Boucheron‘s creative director Claire Choisne is entitled More is More and celebrates the dire need for colour, action and life after the long lockdowns that were suffered during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Perhaps the most heritage-focused suite of the collection is the Once in a Blue Moon high jewellery suite, composed of the infamous Question Mark necklace born into the Boucheron brand in 1879, as well as the Parfum ring, inspired by the Maison’s long-standing dialogue between the art of high jewellery and fragrance.

The stars of both pieces are singular tanzanite gems, with the necklace featuring a particularly rare 5.28-carat cushion tanzanite set amongst diamonds and white gold and the ring a unique 33.15-carat cabochon.