The Merelani Untamed Collector Academy™

Collector Academy – Lesson 21

Understanding Crystal Faces

If you examine a raw tanzanite crystal closely, you'll notice that many of its flat surfaces are remarkably smooth and well defined.

These are called crystal faces.

They are not carved or polished.

They formed naturally as the crystal grew beneath the Earth over millions of years.

Each face reflects the crystal's internal atomic structure and the conditions under which it developed.

Some crystals display broad prism faces.

Others have sharply defined termination faces.

Many also show delicate natural growth lines known as striations.

To a gemmologist, these features reveal the crystal's history.

To a collector, they are part of what makes every raw tanzanite unique.

Collector's Fact #21

Crystal faces are nature's signature. They preserve the story of how a crystal grew deep within the Earth millions of years ago.

Raw tanzanite.

Untouched. Unrepeatable.