Garnet is the January Birthstone. The name garnet is derived from the Latin word "Granatum",
meaning seed, as the traditional shape in which the stone is cut,
resembles a pomegranate seed. Garnets have been used by Ancient
Egyptians in their jewelry, and their are references to this gemstone as
far back as 3rd Millennium BC. Garnets signify eternal
friendship and trust. Depending on their chemical composition garnets can
have a variety of colors such as red, brown, yellow, orange, white, green or
black.
Types of Garnets
Pyrope:
This is the commonest of all garnets, usually dark red to black in colour. Czechoslovakia was one of the main producers of this type of
garnet.
The smaller stones were drilled to produce beads.
Alamandite: These stones
have a deep red to brownish red color. Some alamandites have a
4-rayed star produced by inclusions. Star garnets are found in India and the
U.S. (Idaho).
Rhodolite: They have a rose
red to purple color, and is a mixture of pyrope and alamandite in the ratio
2:1.Rhodolites may contain snowflake like inclusions.
|
Pyrope |
|
 |
Spessartite: The name is derived
from Spessart, a location in Germany where this type of garnet was first
discovered. The color varies from brown to red and also orange
Hessonite: This is a
grossular garnet with a color ranging from orange to yellow.
Tsavolite or Tsavorite: This
is a grossular garnet having an emerald green color. This garnet was first
found in Tanzania in 1970,at a site near to Tasvo National Park. The name is
derived from the name of the Park.
Andradite: This garnet has
colors such as yellow, green, black, and brown. Demantoid is a transparent
andradite with a very high dispersion and may appear like diamonds.
Malaya or Malaia: These garnets have a light to
dark pinkish orange, reddish orange or yellowish orange color, with a
moderate hardness of 7.0 to 7.5 on the Mohr's scale. Malaya garnets are
found in countries like Nigeria.
There are other garnets that may have slightly different
shades than the ones classified above and are given different names such as
Umba, Mint, Ant Hill, Maralambo, Imperial. These names may
indicate the site where they were discovered, but they all fall into one of
the above categories.
A new category of garnets called Color Change
Garnets
have been discovered recently from mines in Tanzania and Kenya. These
garnets change color depending on the light source, eg from cherry red
(incandescent lighting) to purple blue (daylight).
