People usually believe that garnet is a single gemstone. Nevertheless, garnet is the family name of a collection of minerals of a similar crystal structure and slightly different chemical compositions.
Garnets that are used as jewelry are pyrope, almandine, spessartine, grossular, and andradite (the five major types of garnet). These too have varieties--as hessonite and the tsavorite are varieties of the grossular species.
Metamorphic rocks in the world contain garnets. They are usually made of different mixtures of aluminum, calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese and silicon. These factors define the type of garnet and affect the color and characteristics of garnet.
The Garnets are well known and loved for thousands of years with their rich red Colors and profound symbolism. Garnets are also referred to as one of the oldest gemstones that symbolize love, protection, and friendship. They are also said to boost confidence, courage, vitality and the feeling of security. Garnets have been appreciated in different cultures and even up to these days.
The term garnet has its origin in the Latin word granatum which means grain or seed which reminds us of the pomegranate seeds. Thousands of years have been spent by garnets. Kings of Egypt used garnet necklaces and ancient Romans used carved garnets as seals to important documents. Garnets were used in the Middle Ages as a treatment against depression, disasters, wounds, and nightmares as well as protection against evil.
Garnets are the January birthstone today and are believed to have protective and balancing power over the person who wears it. They are also reputed to bring in love, luck, health, loyalty and friendship. Garnet jewels are still popular based on their beauty and perceived advantage.
The garnets are types of silicate minerals, which have been utilized since the bronze age as jewel materials as well as abrasive materials. They can be characterized by a dark-red hue, although garnets may be of various colors, including orange, brown, yellow, pink, green, blue, and colorless as well. Peach, green, colorless and blue are the most uncommon colors.
They are valued because these stones are durable and hard with a score of 6.5 to 7.5 along the Mohs scale. Garnets are very tough, but they should be handled carefully so as not to be damaged. They can be located in most countries, such as Brazil, Namibia, Kenya, Tanzania, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India, Russia, USA, and China. Garnets are formed with different characteristics in each place.
The cost of garnets depends on various factors such as color, clarity, carat weight and cut.
Garnets come in a variety of colors though they usually come in red. Colorless, blue, green, and peach are rare colors, which are highly-valued. There are various types of green garnets, such as tsavorite and demantoid, which are different types of garnet.
Garnet has varying levels of clarity depending on the type of garnet. In most cases, red garnets such as almandine, pyrope, and rhodolite contain no visible inclusions whereas orange garnets such as spessartine and hessonite usually contain visible inclusions.
Garnets are of different sizes. The garnets found commonly such as almondine are usually available in larger sizes without much price increment. Nonetheless, some garnets such as demantoid and tsavorite are rare and their price goes up with size.
Garnets are commonly cut into standard shapes to easily set in jewelry. Rare garnets such as tsavorite and demantoid are usually cut to bring out maximum and carat weight.
Garnet gemstones are celebrated in a variety of colors. Although most commonly known and most common is a red, garnets may be colored in green, orange, yellow, purple, brown, blue, black and even have no color. In the case of pyrope garnets, it is usually red; and in the case of spessartine garnets, it can be orange or reddish-brown.
Garnet set the wedding band.
Garnet Properties
Mohs Hardness
6.5-7.5 depending on the variety
Mineral
Different garnet stones may be priced very differently depending on their type, color, size, origin and quality. Red garnets tend to be cheaper, and more unusual colors, such as green tsavorite or orange spessartine, may be pricier. Garnets of high quality, containing good color and being clear can fetch more, particularly those which are well cut and of considerable size.
In most regions of the globe, garnets are mined such as Africa, India, Sri Lanka and the United States. Certain garnet varieties occur in certain areas- rhodolite and tsavorite garnet is found in East Africa, spessartine garnets are mostly mined in Brazil, Madagascar, Namibia, Sri Lanka, and the USA.
The following is an approximate pricing table of garnet gemstones (approximately up to 2024). The prices can be different depending on the particular market tendencies and stone peculiarities:
Almandine Deep red, purplish red $50 -200.
Pyrope Purplish red, blood red $70 -300.
Rhodolite Pink to violet-red $100 – $400
Spessartine Orange to reddish-orange 200 to 800.
Tsavorite Vivid green $500 – $5,000
Demantoid Green (frequently with inclusions of horsetail) 1,000 -10,000.
Hessonite Honey-yellow to cinnamon-brown $50 -500
Malaya Garnet Pinkish-orange to reddish-pink $300 -2,500.
Green, yellowish-green Grossilar Garnet Green, yellowish-green $300 -4000.
Uvarovite Emerald-green (typically druzy) $100 -500.
Color-Change Garnet Red to green or purple change 1,000 -5,000.
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