TANZANIA, STONE HUNTERS

The chrysoprase, a semi-precious stone

Synopsis

Dimitri Manthéakis, a fifth generation Tanzanian of Greek origin, he has been crisscrossing the country for 40 years in search of precious stones such as rubies, spinels, diamonds or sapphires.

Thanks to its local network, Dimitri discovered a few years ago a vein of a semi-precious stone unknown in Tanzania, the chrysoprase. He bought the hill that contains the precious ore and built a mine with the help of the local villagers. He was the first in the country to promote this stone, which is increasingly popular with major jewellers such as Cartier and Pomellato.