Fiery red, vibrant orange, a sunset-tinged purple and a rare intense green – garnets come in just about every color to please January birthday celebrants.
Fun Facts about the Garnet Family
Many garnets feature a chemical mix that blends two or more of the 20 different garnet species. The five important garnet species for fine jewelry include:
- Pyrope, which varies from a deep red to black, and when mixed with almandine creates a violet-red shade known as rhodolite garnet.
- Almandine, which features the deep red transparent color most commonly associated with garnet.
- Spessartine that ranges from an orangey yellow to violet red.
- Grossular garnets that include the rare and beautiful green Tsavorite, which is mined in Kenya near Tsavo National Park.
- Andradite garnets, which come in shades of yellow and green. A rare green variety, demantoid, features horsetail inclusions that are one of the few internal features that increase a gem’s value.
Did you know?
Garnets go way back: A 5,000-year-old garnet bead necklace was found in an Egyptian grave. In ancient Rome, signet rings with carved garnets were used to stamp the wax that secured important documents.
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