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Getting Better Acquainted with the Garnet Gemstone
Garnet is one of the less popular known gems in the world simply because ruby, which is also colored red, is more famous. Nevertheless, all it would take is just one look for any person to fall in love with this beautiful gemstone.
THINGS YOU DON’T KNOW ABOUT GARNET
The gemstone garnet is the birthstone for the month of January. As such, many Capricorns will definitely love receiving a piece of garnet jewelry from you.
Noah supposedly used garnet to light its lantern when living inside the Ark and in the midst of the Great flood. In the old days, travelers wore pieces of garnet to protect them from harm.
A lot of people are unaware that garnet gemstone isn’t exclusively red in appearance. It can also appear in other colors depending on its composition. The rarest of all shades for the garnet gemstone is blue.
The first gem of this kind was discovered in the late 1990’s in Madagascar. It’s extremely beautiful to look at because the blue garnet gemstone can change colors depending on the light of day; it can go from blue-green to purple. The blue garnet gemstone is often misidentified as alexandrite because of its chameleon-like properties.
Other colors for the garnet gemstone are brown, black, green, yellow, purple, orange, and colorless.
Garnets are not easy to break. In the Mohs Scale, they have an approximate score of 6.5 to 7.5, which is just a bit lower than that of rubies and sapphires.
TYPES OF GARNET GEMSTONES
Almandite – This is the most popular kind of garnet because it’s red in color. Translated to Latin, the name of this particular kind of garnet means “little spark”. Most almandite garnets can be found in Asia. It’s also called almandine ruby and the Oriental garnet.
Pyrope – This is another type of garnet that can appear in red. Pyrope garnet gemstones however may also appear black. In a county in North Carolina, the pyrope garnet gemstones there have a uniquely purple shade and are called rhodolite. Other names for this type of garnet gemstone are Arizona ruby, Cape Ruby, Rocky Mountain Ruby, and California Ruby.
In the Czech Republic, the pyrope garnet is known as the Bohemian garnet. This is also the classification group of which the rare blue garnet belongs.
Spessartite – This type of garnet gemstone is yellow in appearance and is made from a mixture of the elements aluminum and manganese. Other spessartite garnet gemstones may be purple in color, but this is basically found in Maine and Colorado.
Andranite – If you’re looking for a black garnet gemstone, then you’re specifically looking for those belonging to the andranite group. Made from a combination of iron and calcium, andranite garnet gemstones may also appear in green, brown, and yellow.
Grossularite – This time, it is aluminum and calcium that are combined to form another classification of garnet gemstones. Grossularite garnet gemstones are primarily green in appearance although again, some classes are yellow, red, and cinnamon brown.
Uvavorite – This is a type of garnet gemstone that can be found inside small crystals. Although its name makes you think of violet-colored garnets, this group is actually green in appearance. Uvavorite garnet gemstones can be mainly found in Russia and a specific region in Finland.
Knorringite – Lastly, there’s the garnet gemstone that’s created from a blend of chromium and magnesium. Knorringite however is actually a by-product of pyrope garnets and used to look for diamonds.
USES OF GARNET
Obviously, beautiful specimens of garnet are immediately used for ornamental purposes and crafted into exquisite pieces of jewelry.
Sand from garnet however can be used as an abrasive in sand blasting while the not so aesthetically blessed specimens of garnet can be used to cut steels.
The garnet gemstone can be used to determine the origins and other key details of rocks except those belonging to the sedimentary group.
So as you can see, there’s more to the garnet gemstone than meets the eye!
Even if it’s certainly not as expensive as diamonds or sapphires, garnet has its own special beauty, making it into a perfect gift for any of your loved ones. If you want to give your loved one a unique gift, giving him or her a piece of garnet jewelry will be the best way to show you care…a lot!
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