Garnet may be the oldest group of minerals used as abrasives and gemstones, but it’s still popular today. A family of gems rather than a single gemstone, a garnet is available in fine qualities. Available in a wide array of colors (with the possible exception of blue) which span the entire color spectrum, garnets are most often seen in red. Six common varieties of garnet are recognized based on chemical composition: pyrope, almandine, spessartite, grossular (cinnamon stone and tsavorite), uvarovite and andradite. Garnets make up two solid solution series: pyrope-almandine-spessarite and uvarovite-grossular-andradite.
Many Christians believe that garnet is the gemstone used by Noah to illuminate the Ark. Considered to be the gem of faith, truth and constancy, legend has it that garnet jewelry will improve the social skill and communication of the wearer. Asiatic tribes carved garnets into bullets in the belief that their fiery color would inflict more fatal wounds. They were ground into powder for the treatment of jaundice or fever. Apothecary was accused of using an imitation if the cure didn’t work.
A wide assortment is accessible at affordable prices. The most popular and recognized of garnets are the pyrope garnets and deep red almandine. The pyrope has a tendency to have less brown in it. Although, fine quality pyrope may be confused with a dark ruby, but medium quality looks like almandine. The almandine is what most individuals think of when garnet is mentioned.
The tsavorite garnet is unique from other garnets. It almost doesn’t even resemble a garnet with its vivid, radiant green. The color range of the tsavorite includes a spring-like light green, a highly intense blue-green and a deep forest green. These colors have a refreshing and invigorating effect on the senses. However, the garnet gemstone is also valuable due to its extreme brilliance. Like all the other garnets, it even has a particularly high refractive index of 1.734/44. Legend has it that a garnet’s sparkling light remains visible even through clothing.
The tsavorite, unlike many other gemstones, is neither oiled nor burnt. Garnet is not in any need of this sort of treatment, as it is simply a piece of unadulterated, pure nature. The garnet is also renowned for its robust characteristic. Although it has nearly the same hardness as the more expensive emerald, it is without a doubt less sensitive. This is a vital feature when the stone is set and when it’s being worn. A tsavorite is not likely to crack or even splinter due to an incautious movement.
In recent years, the rhodolite is the garnet that has become increasingly popular, for its lively red-violet that resembles a glass of rose wine. It may resemble a plum sapphire or a violet ruby. Garnet jewelry is the birthstone for the month of January. It may even be given as a gemstone on the 2nd and 6th wedding anniversary. The light transmission properties of the garnet can range from the gemstone-quality transparent specimens to the opaque varieties found in abrasives for industrial purposes.
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