Garnets: Spectatular Colors and Beauty

  Garnet

Garnets come in a multitude of colors & can denote eternal friendship & trust and garnets have been called a “stone of commitment” as well as a “stone of health.” They have been used for over 5000 years in jewelry. Before modern chemistry could discern the difference between a ruby and a garnet, the red garnet was thought of as a ruby of the highest purity because, while the ruby is heavily included with fractures and, therefore, is not often clear, a red pryope garnet is of a similar color and is usually clear.

Garnet is the birthstone for January.

Garnets come in many varieties and all consist of a combination of minerals growing together in a crystal form. They come in a rainbow of colors and the preponderance of one mineral over the other minerals gives them a different color but they are all very similar in their basic mineral content. There are two general types of garnets: those that have more aluminum in them like:

the ruby red pryope

 or to the tangerines of spessartine  

and the brown/reds of almandine  

The most common in this group is the rhodolite that is a pinkish purple color. 

The second group of garnets have more calcium in them and they are the beautiful green tsavorites (emerald green but without the inclusions so it is clear and brilliant)      

& the Andradites that come in the dramatic green

of Demantoid   

or the soft yellow of  topazolite   

or the black Melanite                                                                    

or the orange/brown of hessonite   

Except for blue, garnets come in almost every shade and hue.

Fraud with red garnet (pryope) is rare because it is relatively inexpensive. There are MANY cubic zirconia in red garnet color as well as crystals but these should be clearly marked as NON-semi-precious jewelry. If you are buying the more expensive varieties, always buy from a trusted jeweler or take the stone/jewelry to a qualified appraiser.

Care: Garnets are easy to care for. Just use soapy water and a soft brush and rinse the soap off thoroughly. You can also clean in an Ultrasonic cleaner but do not do this if you have a demantoid garnet.

Garnet’s qualities include (especially the red hued garnets): helping to improve health by taking negative energy out of our body’s energy centers and transmuting it into positive energy; it can expand your awareness and your manifestations; it can bring love and commitment to your relationships; it can help to clarify your life purpose. Furthermore, garnet has protective qualities as well as bringing abundance—in the square cut shape, it can enhance your business finances. All garnets in every color help to bring success because it helps energetically build self-confidence, inspiration and creativity.

The most abundant red-hued forms of garnet are relatively inexpensive and beautiful as well.

Written by Sandra Jeffs    http://finessejewelry.net/blogs/education