Tsavorite is a green variety of garnet that is highly valued for its color. Garnet is most commonly seen in the jewelry trade as a dark red gemstone. However, garnet forms in many varieties including green, orange, yellow, red, purple, brown, black, blue, and colorless. Each of these colors belongs to subcategories of a large mineral group of twenty species called the garnet group.

The garnet species grossular is responsible for a common green variety known as tsavorite. Tsavorite, in its richest green, appears as a light emerald. It is found in Tanzania as well as the place from where its name is derived: Tsavo, Kenya.