Our History - The Tanzanite Journey

• Several years ago our company's founder and president, John McQueen, had the opportunity to have an online presence in the gem retailing industry, so he began selling some of the loose gems he had accumulated. Competition was 'reasonable' and vendors were more than willing to work with him to see sales increase as it had a good result for them as well. Since 1999, the company has grown to a customer base of just over 1420 individuals, designers, jewelers and collectors who have collectively placed over 4,025 orders with them.

• The Gem Zone, Inc. ("TGZ") is eTanzanite.com's parent company who does business as a number of entities on the internet. TGZ is owned and operated by John & Debbie McQueen who reside in Ohio along with their two sons, Brett & Ian. John, a long-time 'rock hound' and President and Founder of The Gem Zone, Inc., holds a bachelor's degree in Environmental Science from Bowling Green State University. Debbie, who manages all back office operations holds business degrees from both Davenport University and Western Michigan University. Together, they run the day-to-day affairs of The Gem Zone, Inc.

• TheGemZone.com was their first website that offered many fine colored gemstones such as sapphire, ruby, tanzanite, spinel, topaz, citrine and many other types of gemstones. You'll notice that they continue to carry many different types of gemstones, many of them being personal favorites.

• eTanzanite.com came about as the result of TGZ's specialization in tanzanite. Having the privilege to work with primary dealers in the tanzanite market, TGZ has been able to remain price-competitive with all major resellers of fine tanzanite while carrying only the finest colors available at any given time.

• In early 2000, TGZ, Inc. announced that they would offer a 100% return privilege on all gems they sold. This bold and unique move within the gem industry moved them to the forefront of customer satisfaction and provided a windfall of customers to them.  At just over 8 years later, they still offer the same guarantee. As John has said, "...If we fail to satisfy our customer(s), then we have not done our job completely..."  This has been the driving force behind the company's success.

• In 2006, TGZ, Inc. made the decision to only purchase tanzanite from registered sightholders of TanzaniteOne Ltd. In doing so, all stones are unconditionally guaranteed to be genuine and are purchased under the Tucson Protocol.

If you have additional comments or questions regarding The Gem Zone, Inc., please contact either John or Debbie. They are knowledgeable in all areas related to facetted gemstones and fine tanzanite and would be happy to hear from you.