Lush Magnus Tanzanite

Middle English lush, possibly from lascious, lascivious — a word that drifted from sensual ripeness toward visual abundance. Used as a color word since the eighteenth century for the saturated greens of well-watered foliage and the deep saturated jewel tones of velvet upholstery. Used across the deep and bold buckets where the hue is simultaneously dark and vivid.

Latin magnus, great-or-large. As a color modifier, magnus implies a Latin-great-and-Albertus-Magnus-and-Magna-Carta quality, the visual register of Albertus-Magnus-and-Magna-Carta-magnus hand-Latin-great-and-Albertus-Magnus-and-Magna-Carta Albertus-Magnus-and-Magna-Carta-and-Charlemagne-Carolus-Magnus magnus-and-Latin-great surfaces under Albertus-Magnus-and-Magna-Carta-and-Charlemagne-Carolus-Magnus Cologne-cathedral-and-Runnymede-meadow medieval-Latin-light. Sits at the modifier-and-Latin end of the grid, parallel to opus and virtus in usage.

A blue-violet variety of zoisite — discovered in 1967 in a single small area of northern Tanzania near Mount Kilimanjaro and marketed by Tiffany & Co. shortly after. The color refers to a faceted tanzanite cut to maximize its strong pleochroism: a saturated, slightly violet-shifted deep blue-purple with the gem's signature internal life. Cooler than amethyst, warmer than iolite, with the gem-trade specificity of a stone that occurs in exactly one place on Earth.