Granets | Pyrope | Almandine | Rhodolite

This week's Featured Item!

Dear House of Gems.

All my life I have known of wine-red Garnets. Now, all of a sudden, I hear that garnets come in every color of the rainbow. Is this for real? If so, can you tell me about them? A.T., Ont. Canada.
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GARNETS
Part 1 of 2

The popular conception of Garnet is that it is one of two red “Carbuncle (glowing coal ember) stones”, Pyrope or Almandine. Because these Garnets resemble glossy, red pomegranate seeds, they have earned the Latin name, malum granatum, but, in reality, Garnet is the name of a large, multi-colored, family of gemstones. In the newsletter, "Things you need to know when creating with gemstones Part 2", I discussed families of gemstones. Here we have a great example of the variety within a gem family.

The Garnet group is made up of minerals that have similar crystal structures and related chemical compositions. Within this family group there are two “series”. The pyralspite series is primarily made up of Pyrope, Almandine, and Spessartine varieties. The ugrandite series is primarily made up of Grossular, Andradite, and Uvarovite varieties. There, also, exist garnets with mixtures of both series. All Garnets share the following characteristics:

Mohs’ hardness: 6 ½ ~ 7 ½                     Crystal system: Cubic
Cleavage: Indistinct                                  Fracture: Conchoidal, splintery, brittle.
Transparency: Transparent to opaque.      Luster: Vitreous.

Listed below, are the major varieties of Garnet, along with their specific descriptions.

THE PYRALSPITE SERIES.

Pyrope, (Greek for fiery). This Garnet, is colored red by chrome, and frequently has a brown cast. During the 18th and 19th centuries, Pyrope was very popular, especially with Queen Victoria. This Garnet is found in Bohemia, South and East Africa, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Arizona (USA) – they are found in ant hills on the Apache Indian reservation.

Almandine, (Pliny the Elder named this gem for the city of Alabanda in Asia Minor). Iron is responsible for this Garnet’s brown-red to red-violet color graduations. During the Crusades, knights wore this gem as a talisman against wounds and poisoning. These gems are mined in Brazil, India, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, the Czech Republic, and Austria.

Rhodolite is a link between Pyrope and Almandine. A balance between magnesium and iron produce the beautiful pink-red color in this Garnet. Rhodolite is one of the most popular Garnets in jewelry, today. These Garnets come from East Africa, Brazil, and the United States.

Spessartine/Spessartite, aka Mandarine-Spessartite. Manganese gives this Garnet its fiery, hot orange color. This Garnet is found in Germany, Sri Lanka, East Africa, Brazil, China, Baja California (Mexico), and Virginia (USA).

This completes the pyralspite series. Next week I will introduce you to the ugrandite series of Garnets. They include some of my favorite gems.