The garnet family is a minerals group composed of many different minerals, including colorless, red, purple, orange, yellow, green, blue, and so on. Although the garnet family is rich in color and variety, not all members can be planned into the category of “gems”, there are five kinds of gem-grade minerals: pyrope, almandine, spessartite, grossularite and andradite. Today we will introduce them to you in this article.
Pyrope is derived from the Greek word “pyrōpos”, which means “hot eyes.” The pyrope is found on the southern slopes of the Českéstředohoří mountain in Bohemia, with colors ranging from purple to red. Because the high-quality pyrope is closer to pure red, it has historically been mistaken for rubies.
Almandine is derived from Alabanda in Asia Minor, a place where garnets were cut and processed in ancient times. The almandine has a color range from purple to red and is often indistinguishable from thepyrope. High-quality almandine is dark red transparent – such garnets usually do not contain visible inclusions. The most commonly known member is dark purple stone, it is usually dark red, maroon to deep purplish red. You can see some gemstone can be inlaid for the stackable rings with birthstone.
The name Spessartine is derived from the Bavarian word “Spessart”, because it was first discovered in the mountains of the Spessart region of Bavaria in Germany in the 1880s. Spessartiteranges in color from orange to yellow, and the most popular color is orange, if it has a brown tone, it will reduce the value of the gem. The famous member Fanta Stone – Founded in Namibia, Africa in the 1990s. With its bright and vibrant colors, fanta stone redefines gem-grade spessartine. Although the orange tone of fantastone is controlled by manganese, the final color is affected by iron. When the iron content is high, it will show Orange red and brown red. When the iron content is low, it appears as orange as gold. The best color of fantastone is pure, and bright orange.
Andradite has a color range from yellow to green, and it is also attracting attention because of its beautiful color and unique inclusions. The famous member demantoid – the name is derived from the Dutch “demant”, meaning diamond, because this gem is unusually bright and shiny like a diamond. The high-quality demantoid is emerald green with a yellow hue, which is more valuable if it has a typical ponytail-like inclusion visible to the naked eye. The thick green garnet, originally discovered in the gravel layer along the Bobrovka River in Russia, was later favored by Fabergé and the Russian Tsar, and it gradually expanded its popularity. Those with good quality are bright green and very popular with collectors. It can be used to make engraved birthstone ring.
The name “Grossular” was documented as early as the 16th century, but it was not universally applied until 1974. The color range of grossularite includes colorless, yellow, red-orange, red, and green, but the most popular is “strong, vibrant green.” The famous member Tsavorite – the gem upstart with numerous fans. Founded in the late 1960s by Tiffany and promoted to the international market, Tsavorite quickly took advantage of the appearanceto burst a piece of sky. Golden garnet – the color is orange to orange red to maroon, contains macroscopic inclusions, and its interior is capable of a spectacular display.
In addition to the five categories above, the garnet family has a relatively small but equally sought-after member – Color-Change Garnet/Alexandrite Garnet. The color-changing garnet does not belong to only one of the above types. The known ones include demantoid, pyrope, spessartite and so on, there are examples of discoloration effects. These rare color-changing garnets can change in sunlight from a pretty red or purple to a lovely blue-green to green-tinged blue and occasionally a beautiful blue under fluorescent lights.
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