Traditionally, Garnet is the Birthstone for January
When most people think of garnets, they think of red. Most garnets are red, but did you know that garnets come in many different colors? Tsavorite garnets are a lovely green color. Spessartite (or spessartine - both are used) garnets are available in several different shades of orange. Rhodalite garnets have a gorgeous violet hue to them. There are color-changing garnets that change from a vivid bluish-green to violet. A very pale light green variety of garnet is called demantoid. Pyrope garnets are a deep, vivid red, and undoubtedly exhibit the finest red color of all of the garnets. In Idaho, there is a variety of garnet mined called star garnet that, when cut into a cabachon shape, exhibits a 4 or a 6-pointed star, much like star sapphires and star diopside. Most common are the "Mozambique" garnets, which are red when viewed directly. When held up with a light source behind them, they appear reddish-brown, or "root beer" colored. These garnets are abundant in nature, and make beautiful jewelry, especially when set in yellow gold. Some interesting BELIEFS about garnets are: Chemically speaking, garnets are not all the same. Their hardness varies from 7.5 to 6.5 on Moh's scale of hardness. Some are calcium iron silicate, as in demantoid, considered the most valuable garnet in i ts beautiful green shades. Some are calcium aluminum silicate, like tsavorite and hessonite. Still others are: calcium chromium silicate, manganese aluminum silicate, iron aluminum silicate, and magnesium aluminum silicate. New deposits of garnets appear to constantly be found in different colors, all over the world. The chemical compositions of Garnet are: Mg3AL2(SiO4)3 Fe3Al2(SiO4)3 Mn3AL2(SiO4)3 Ca3Al2(SiO4)3 Ca3Fe2(SiO4)3 Ca3Cr2(SiO4)3 and possibly more... |