Stunning Garnets

Garnets are so beautiful, no wonder they were adored by Egyptian pharaohs and many others in ancient times. Red garnet were not in abundance until the 1500s when more was discovered in central Europe. So what gives them their beauty?

The mineral found in metamorphic rocks are responsible for garnet’s red color. For those who like variety in their lives, such as myself, different minerals provide garnet with a variety of colors, such as purple, oranges, reddish orange, yellows, and greens. The rarest garnet is the demantoid, green, with whom it is favorited by connoisseurs.

For those who value clarity in their gemstones, you will want to purchase red garnets from the minerals pyrope, almandine, and rhodolite because these minerals typically are clear of inclusions to the naked eye, unlike the orange garnets containing minerals as spessartine.

You can find garnets cut in several styles, some colors look better in a certain cut than others. This is due to the cutter’s ability to enhance the look of the garnet, giving you the stunning look in which you are desiring.

For some green garnets such as demantoid and tsavorite, the value increases significantly as the size increases because the green garnet is rare and found in smaller sizes. Because most garnets are found in larger sizes, price increases between the different carat weights are not so dramatic.

What is the best way to clean your garnet jewelry? To me, this is an important factor because it can also affect the value of your jewelry pieces, and you have spent a great deal of time and money investing in your jewelry. To clean your garnet jewelry use warm soapy water because any other method could cause damage. Sometimes garnets have fractures and the fractures have been filled.

Always ask the jeweler questions that you may have and/or any concerns you may have about garnet you are about to purchase. A good jeweler should be able to tell you where the garnet came from, how it is ranked on the Mohs scale, and how to properly care for your garnet.