Mozambique Garnet |
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Garnet Details |
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Frequently called |
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Garnet |
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Also known as |
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Almandine, Demantoid, Grape, Grossularite,
Malaya, Pyrope, Rhodolite, Spessartite & Tsavorite ....... |
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Shape |
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All |
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Color |
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Red,
Green, Orange, Golden, red/orange, blue green, purple,
purple/red ....... |
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Clarity |
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Type 2 |
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Saturation |
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Strong |
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Finish
& Polish |
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High |
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Other features |
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Usually eye clean with some
inclusions under magnification |
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Refracted
Index |
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1.740-1.88 |
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Origin |
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Many locations |
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Hardness |
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7.0 - 7.5 |
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Specific Gravity |
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4.05
+.25, -.12 |
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Tsavorite Garnet |
Garnets
Many people think of them as that deep-red
gemstone you often find in jewelry? For the most part this is the most
frequently see color. However, far too few people are aware that the
world of the garnets is far more colorful than that. Garnet is a group of more
than ten different gemstones of similar chemical composition. It is
true to say that red is the color most often encountered, but the
garnet also exists in various shades of green, a tender to intense
yellow, a fiery orange and some fine earth-colored nuances. The only
color it cannot offer is blue.
Garnets are much sought-after and much
worked gemstones - the more so because today it is not only the
classical gemstone colors red and green which are so highly esteemed,
but also the fine hues in between. Furthermore, the world of the
garnets is also rich in rarities such as star garnets and stones whose
color changes depending on whether they are seen in daylight or
artificial light.
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The warm red of the garnet illuminated
Noah's Ark. Garnets have
been known to Man for thousands of years. Noah, it is said, used a
garnet lantern to help him steer his ark through the dark night. |
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Many an early
explorer and traveler liked to carry a garnet with him, for the garnet
was popular as a talisman and protective stone, as it was believed to
light up the night and protect its bearer from evil and disaster.
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Grossular Garnet Carving of Buddha
Garnets are also
found in jewelry from early Egyptian, Greek and Roman times.
Today, science has taught us that the garnet's proverbial luminosity
comes from its high refractive index.
Not only do garnets have many colors;
they also have many names: Almandine, Andradite, Demantoid,
Grossularite, Hessonite, Pyrope, Rhodolite, Tsavorite,
Spessartite, and Uvarovite, and the list goes on. But if we restrict ourselves to
the most important and begin with the red garnets. Red Pyrope. Its
spirited red, often with a slight brownish nuance, was a gemstone
color much in demand in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Spessartite Garnet
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'Almandines', named after Alabanda, an
ancient city, have a chemical composition that differs somewhat from
that of the Pyrope.
Rhodolite A further garnet variety,
also red, is the mixed crystal of Almandine and Pyrope. This popular
garnet is of a magnificent velvety red with a fine violet or
raspberry-red undertone. Originally found in the USA, it now
comes mainly from the gemstone mines in East Africa, India and Sri
Lanka.
The shape of the raw crystals is also
interesting. Garnet means something like 'the grainy one', coming
from the Latin 'Granum', for grain. This makes reference not only to
the typical roundish shape of the crystals, but also to the color of
the red garnet, which often puts one in mind of the seeds of a ripe
pomegranate.
Merelani Mint Garnet
Almandine Garnet in
Matrix
