Garnets are often equated with red, but can also be orange, pink, green, black and honey brown. Garnet is a generic name for many minerals, each of which is named after its color. Of course each of these garnets is characterized by the same main chemical formula: [SiO44-].

How many shades of garnet are there?

Despite their common crystal structure, garnet's color varieties come from different chemical compositions in the gem material. Actually, over twenty types of garnet have been discovered, but only a handful of these are gem quality and used in jewelry today.

Are there different colors of garnet?

Grossular has perhaps the widest color range of any garnet species, from colorless through yellow to reddish orange and orangy red, to a strong, vibrant green. Gemologists and colored stone dealers further subdivide some garnet species into varieties depending on color.

What is the rarest color of garnet?

It depends on the type and color of Garnet. The rarest Garnets are peach, green and clear. The red Garnets are more common.

What color is a true garnet?

However, the most widely-known color of Garnet gemstones is dark red. When the term "Garnet" is used, it is usually connotative of the dark red form; other color Garnets are usually given more descriptive gemstone terms.

What are the Varieties of Garnet?

How can you tell if it's a real garnet?

The color of the stone

Garnets are known for their dense, saturated hues. Hence, a great way to distinguish a real gem from a fake one is to look at the color's richness. If your stone is lighter, brighter, or more vivid, then it may be a fake.

What does a natural garnet look like?

Garnets are opaque, transparent to translucent minerals that can be found as individual crystals, pebbles, or clumps of inter-grown crystals. Garnets are most commonly found with reddish shades, but can be, orange, yellow, green, purple, brown, blue, black, pink, and colourless. Blue garnets are very rare.

Is there a white garnet?

Most people think of garnet as red, but in fact garnets occur in every color, including green (tsavorite) and orange (spessartite). But some garnet colors are extremely rare, particularly blue and white (colorless).

Are garnets worth any money?

Because they are available in so many different colours, garnet stone prices can vary dramatically. They tend to range from around $500 a carat with inclusions, up to around $7000 per carat for the larger, clean stones. The most valuable garnet is Demantoid and it's priced near the top of the spectrum.

What is the difference between garnet and rhodolite garnet?

Lighter in hue than most other red garnets, rhodolite can be distinguished from its darker red siblings thanks to its rich rose-to-raspberry tones with subtle purple variations. Chemically, it's a mix of two varieties of red garnet. Two parts blood-red pyrope, one part purply-red almandine, it is brighter than both.

Is there a blue garnet?

Only reported in 2017, Blue Garnet is a rare and unusual sub-variety of an already rare Garnet, Color Change Umbalite, and despite its beauty, will always have an inadequate supply, making Blue Garnet highly collectable and very exclusive.

How can you tell a good quality garnet?

Generally, garnets are clean stones. They are transparent and exhibit a glassy luster. Red garnets like pyrope and almandine usually do not have eye-visible inclusions. On the other hand, orange garnets such as spessartine and hessonite often have inclusions.

Is green garnet real?

Natural stones have imperfections and crystal inclusions, which make them unique. Demantoid (green garnet) has special “horsetail” inclusions, which is a sign of real stone. Real garnets have no such bright fire as their synthetic analogs. All garnets have essentially the same crystal structure.

What is the darkest garnet?

Andradite is the most is the most lustrous of the Garnets and has several gemstone varieties. Andradite includes three varieties: Melanite: Lustrous, opaque black or very dark red in color, referred to as "titanian andradite".

Is purple garnet rare?

A beautiful member of pyrope-almandine garnet group, purple garnet is a rare variety of garnet, popular for displaying a brilliant purple tone that reminds us of grapes.

Can garnet be pink?

Types of Garnets

Red garnets are the most prevalent and well-known, but this gem is also found in green to greenish yellows, orange to orange pinks, purple, blue, and even color changing varieties.

What does garnet symbolize?

Love and Friendship. With associations with the heart, blood, inner fire, and life force, garnets have long been considered symbols of love. Garnet symbolism also extends to friendship.

What is a green garnet?

Green Garnet is an uncommon variety of Garnet that's composed of aluminum and calcium, with possible traces of chromium and vanadium. When one of the latter two minerals are present, this mineral is usually referred to as “Tsavorite Garnet”.

What is black garnet?

Black garnets are also called Melanites. Andradite is one of the rarest garnet varieties. The black color is due to titanium (which is known for its durability and resistance). This clicks into the properties of this gemstone, as it is connected to self-empowerment, psychic protection and emotional strength.

What is orange garnet?

Mandarin Spessartite Garnet is a rare form of orange garnet often referred to as Mandarin Garnet for its vivid orange color. These gems actually occur in a range of colors from yellowish orange to reddish orange and orange-red.

Can garnets be orange?

While the colors of spessartine or spessartite garnet gemstones cover a wide range of orange shades, the mandarin garnet is as pure orange as this variety can be. Discovered in Namibia in the 1990s, this rare gem is highly desired as a jewelry stone for its eye-catching color, brilliance, and hardness.

Do garnets scratch easily?

Can Garnet get scratched or crack? All gems can be scratched by anything of equal hardness or harder than. At 6 1/2 to 7 1/2 some garnets can be scratched by quartz at 7 hardness. Quartz is common in nature.

Do garnets sparkle?

Your garnet should sparkle in a lively way, reflecting light back evenly across the entire gem.

Do garnets chip easily?

Furthermore, Garnets are not brittle, does not chip easily and as such are considered better candidates for jewelry that is in everyday use than Emeralds. Another very important property of some Garnets is their ability to appear in different hues in natural and artificial light.