Did you know that Garnets come in a variety of colors?

 

Most people are familiar with the traditional red shades of garnets, known as Almandine or Pyrope.

These shades are the most common and readily available.  It’s the exceptional greens of Tsavorite and Demantoid as well as the orange of Spessartine and the raspberry shades of Rhodolite that are really catching the eyes of the public.

There is a wide number of garnet species and no garnet is ever pure in nature, meaning that often the species mix to create varieties with a wider range of colors and characteristics.  One benefit garnets have over other gemstones is that many of them, with a few exceptions, are untreated.  They are found in nature with their exceptional colors and clarities.

Today, most garnets on the market are sourced from African countries, but some come from India, Russia and Central and South America.

Beautiful Greens
Demantoid Garnets are the most expensive kind of garnet currently on the market.  Demantoid garnets usually are small, rarely exceeding 1 carat.  They are special because they are one of only a few gemstones where an inclusion increases the value of the stone. The appearance of a horsetail inclusion makes the stone one of the rarest in the world and can greatly increase the price a collector is willing to pay. 

Another popular green shade of garnet is known as Tsavorite.  Tsavorite Garnets are a great alternative to Emeralds. They’re easier to work with, and despite being rarer than Emeralds, they are generally less expensive.

Warm Colored Garnets
Mandarin Garnet, also called Spessartine, is getting harder to find and more expensive than a few years ago.   Yet, even with it being harder to find this stone continues to be a mainstay for the jewelry consumer.

Rhodolite Garnets with their raspberry hues is very popularity, benefiting from their similarity to Rubellite Tourmaline while offering an exceptional color and clarity at a lower price point.