Gondwana: The Supercontinent Behind Africa's Gemstone Belt

Before continents
took their current shape,

one landmass
held them together.

Gondwana.

A Supercontinent's Long Life

Formed 550 million years ago.
Broke apart, 180 million years ago.

Mountain building.
Metamorphism.
Pegmatite, forming quietly.

Deposits, laid down —
later inherited
by the fragments that drifted away.

A Shared Gemstone Inheritance

East Africa. Madagascar. Sri Lanka. India.
Once joined.
Now oceans apart.

Yet the same corundum.
The same tourmaline.
The same garnet.

The Mozambique Belt

550 to 650 million years old.
Where Gondwana's pieces collided and fused.

Today, fragments run through
Mozambique. Madagascar. Tanzania. Kenya. Sri Lanka.

Explaining why
distant lands
produce the same stones.

Why This Matters for Sourcing

A ruby from Mozambique.
A ruby from Madagascar.

Closer kin to each other
than either is
to a ruby from Myanmar.

Gemstone origin
is a story
written by deep time,
not by current maps.