Tsavorite is one of the rarest garnets and gems on earth. Tsavorite garnet was named by Harry Platt of Tiffany & Company (New York) after the Tsavo region in Kenya, where it was discovered by British geologist Campbell R. Bridges in 1967. Harry Platt called it "The Rolls Royce of the Green".

Tsavorite is also one of the most popular and expensive varieties of garnet. It is very difficult to find clean stones, even small ones, and clean stones over 3 carats are extremely rare.