Chemical Composition Complex silicates with widely varying chemical composition but similar structures.
Color Usually dark brownish or purplish red garnet and almost any color expect blue.
Refractive Index 1.74-1.94. Isometric.
Durability Hardness 6.5-7.5.
Crystal Structure Isometric (cubic).
Specific Gravity 3.4-4.2
Sources / Occurrence Czechoslovakia, India, North Carolina, Tanzania.
Varieties Alamandite-usually dark brownish to purplish red

Pyrope- dark to very dark purplish, pinkish, or blood-red

Spessartite- Orange to orangish-red.

Rhodolite- A mixture of pyrope and almandite with a distinctive purplish red color.

Grossular- Various shades of orange, green, colorless, yellow, pink

Malaya-mixture of pyrope and spessartite. Colors vary from orange to peach, pink, or red.

Hessonite- An orange to brown variety of grossular garnet that has a distinctive swirled, "treacle" appearance under magnification.

Uvarovite- A fine green garnet, similar in appearance to tsavorite.

Tsavorite-An intense, emerald-like green grossular found only in Kenya and Tanzania

Andradite- Several varieties are known of this rare garnet, the best known of which is demantoid. Topazolite is an obsolete name once applied to yellow andradite.

Demantoid- Light to medium green with distinctive fibrous inclusions resembling horse-tails.

Imperial Garnet

Grape Garnet

Mandarin Garnet


The rich colors of Garnet reminded the ancient Greeks of 'granatum' or the seeds of a pomegranate.
The roots of Garnets can be traced back to 3100B.C, Nile Delta, where the Egyptians would craft it into beads or inlay it into hand wrought jewelry.

Garnet is the traditional birthstone for those born in the month of January.
Garnets protect travelers from accidents, protect dreamers from nightmares.
Noah had a garnet lantern on the Ark for navigation at night. In ancient Asia, and the American Southwest, garnets were used as bullets because of their red color as they enhanced the drama of a bullet wound. This was a gemstone worn by King Solomon along with eleven other magical stones.

Garnet is a suggested gift for your second anniversary and is associated with astrological signs of Aquarius and Leo. Garnet is believed to be the sign of friendship, loyalty and devotion. It is recommended for good health, recovery from skin diseases, for annihilation of enemies and for rise in life. It enhances physical and mental strength.

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