Featuring
Garnet
Spessartine Garnet Engagement Ring
Moh's Hardness Scale
6.35 -7.5
Birthstone
January
Anniversary
2nd
Red Garnets are fairly common, as they are present in most places when metamorphic rock (rock that has been exposed to heat and pressure) is mined. All garnets essentially have the same crystal structure, it’s just their chemical composition that differs. Other colours other than red are a bit more rare- needing a specific set of conditions or chemicals to be present in order to form. Demantoid (a variety of the Andradite species of Garnet) is a rare and famous green garnet due to its specific Calcium-Iron makeup, Spessartine is an orange Garnet containing Manganese Aluminium, and Rhodolite is a purple-red Garnet due to its Aluminium Silicate composition.
Garnet
Although Red Garnet is the most well known variety, “Garnet is actually a group of several minerals. Five of these – pyrope, almandine, spessartine, grossular and andradite – are important as gems. Pyrope and almandine range from purple to red. Spessartine is found in exciting oranges and yellows, while andradite is mostly yellow to green (the gem variety demantoid). Grossular may have the widest range, from colorless through yellow to reddish orange and orangy red, as well as a strong vibrant green called tsavorite.” (GIA.edu)
