Zirconia compositional substance and method for producing the same

A zirconia compositional substance comprising:

• at least one first transition metal element selected from the group consisting of manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), molybdenum (Mo), technetium (Tc), ruthenium (Ru), rhodium (Rh), palladium (Pd) and silver (Ag);
• a coloring element that is either or both of a lanthanoid rare earth element and a second transition metal element different from the first transition metal element;
• and
• stabilizing element-containing zirconia,
• wherein
• a content of the first transition metal element is 100 mass ppm or more,
• a content of the second transition metal element is less than 100 mass ppm, and
• the zirconia compositional substance satisfies either or both of the following conditions:
• when a characteristic X-ray of a zirconium element therein and a characteristic X-ray of the first transition metal element are measured, a percentage of measurement points at which a ratio of an intensity of the characteristic X-ray of the first transition metal element to an intensity of the characteristic X-ray of the zirconium element is 0.05 or more is 3% or less of all measurement points;
• and
• when the characteristic X-ray of the zirconium element therein and the characteristic X-ray of the first transition metal element are measured, a distribution width of the ratio of the intensity of the characteristic X-ray of the first transition metal element to the intensity of the characteristic X-ray of the zirconium element is 0.3 or less.