The precision-cut 116.76-carat tsavorite gem known as Merelani’s Lion was purchased by Tucson miner Bruce Bridges and Scottsdale-based private collector and exhibitor of gems and jewelry. Donated to the Smithsonian Institution by a certain Somewhere in the Rainbow.

“This tsavorite is just one of the most important colored gemstones to be mined in the last decade,” said mineralogist Geoffrey Post, Curator of Gems and Minerals at the Smithsonian Institution. “Gems like this are among the Earth’s natural treasures and make exciting additions to the National Gem Collection and our public display.”

Extremely rare, brilliant green garnets were mined in Africa and cut in Tucson into square cushions with 177 mirror-like facets. The stone was displayed at a museum in Washington DC late last month, along with other famous gems such as the Hope Diamond and the Rosser Reeves Star Ruby.

“This is very remarkable, at least in the world of gems,” Bridges said. The company’s gemstone business, Bridges Tsavorite, is based in Kenya with a sales office in Tucson. “Even though he is over two carats (tsavorite), he is a rare gem.”

The rough weighed 283 carats when it was unearthed in late 2017 near Merelani, a region in northern Tanzania known for its gem deposits.

Bridges said he acquired the giant tsavorite (pronounced savorite, with a silence at the beginning) within about three weeks of its discovery, but declined to say how much it cost.

His business prides itself on mining rare colored stones at its own facilities in Africa and cutting them into finished gemstones. Bridges said this special crystal requires special tools and world-renowned hands.

“Somewhere In The Rainbow” brought him together with gemcutter Viktor Tuzlukov. He is a Russian-born grandmaster who came to Tucson from his home in Thailand for his job. It took him 3 months to plan and 1 month to cut the world’s largest square cushion He made tsavorite and the largest tsavorite gemstone ever cut in the United States .

Bridges said Tuzlukov cut two other massive tsavorite stones, one 31 carat and another over 58 carats, for the main event, which were then sold to Asian buyers. Stated.

“Both can be the biggest stones you’ll see in your life by themselves,” Bridges said. However, neither is likely to be seen in public again, at least in North America.

That’s why he was so eager to see a lion land at the Smithsonian Institution, where millions of people can admire it. He said he wanted to preserve “his legacy and dream of bringing tsavorites into the world” for his father.

Bridges said Merelani’s lion was named after the place in Tanzania where it was found and in honor of his father, Campbell Bridges.

“He was the king of colored gemstones in East Africa,” said his son with a laugh. “Every important gem has a name.”

Campbell Bridges discovered tsavorite in northern Tanzania in 1967. When East African governments blocked his efforts to mine a previously unknown semi-precious stone, Elder Bridges traced the tsavorite deposits to southern Kenya, where he opened a mine in the early 1970s. . The family has continued mining in the area ever since.

Bruce Bridges said he learned about Old Pueblo at an early age thanks to the Gem and Mineral Show.

“When I was a boy growing up in Africa, my dad used to spend a month traveling to Tucson, Arizona, a distant place,” he said.

Bridges eventually attended the University of Arizona and qualified for the national team as a sprinter on the track team before graduating in 2004 and returning to Kenya to work in the family business.

It was where Campbell Bridges was murdered in front of him on August 11, 2009, two weeks before his 72nd birthday. Mr Bridges said he was traveling down a mine road with his father and four of his employees when he was ambushed by a mob who had been threatening them and trying to evict them for several years.

Bridges still visits Kenya regularly, but he and his wife, Danielle, who also graduated from UA College of Error Management in 2004, are raising their three children in Tucson to keep it safe. said.

According to the Smithsonian Institution, Post and members of the museum’s gem collection team first saw the Merelani lion during a secret meeting with Bridges at the 2020 Tucson Gem and Mineral Show. They were amazed at the size and quality.

Faceted tsavorites over 10 carats are rare, Post says, and this tsavorite weighs more than 100 carats over the Smithsonian Institution’s second-largest gemstone specimen.

As Tuzrukov shapes, cuts and polishes the stone, Bridges and his colleagues will film the entire process for documentary purposes and share it with the Smithsonian Institution to accent the gem’s display.

“We knew this was going to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for everyone involved,” Bridges said.

“We are confident that this great tsavorite will quickly become a tourist favourite, due to its beauty and well-documented tales,” Post said in a written statement. “This will become an iconic garnet in the National Gem Collection and will be compared to all other tsavorites in the future.”

Merelani’s Lion was briefly displayed last year at the Alfie Norville Museum of Gems and Minerals in the historic Pima County Courthouse in downtown Tucson.

Operated by UA, the facility showcases a number of gems and jewelry on loan from Somewhere In The Rainbow, which works with museums and galleries to display items from its collection for everyone’s enjoyment. Somewhere In The Rainbow partnered with Bridges to store Lion in the United States and make it available to the public.

“Their goal is education,” Bridges said of the organization.

The Smithsonian Institution held a public unveiling of Merelani’s Lion on April 20, with guests including Tuzlukov and Somewhere in the Rainbow curator Sherry Sargent. Three generations of Tsavorite founder Mr. Bridges, his wife, children and mother Judith were also present.

“The tsavorites and my family are just tied together,” Bridges said.