Judging quality
For specimens, look for complete undamaged dodecahedral faces in matrix. For color, garnets are rarely treated, which makes untreated saturation a genuine value.
Garnet group
Garnet
A family of related silicates rather than one mineral, spanning almandine red, tsavorite green, spessartine orange and color-changing pyrope-spessartine. Crystals grow as dodecahedra with striking geometric perfection.
Care
Durable and easy to care for. Warm soapy water.
History & lore
Bohemian pyrope garnets dominated European jewellery in the nineteenth century, mined and cut around Trebnice for hundreds of years.
Cultural history, recorded as tradition rather than as medical or scientific claim.
Common questions about Garnet
- What is Garnet?
- A family of related silicates rather than one mineral, spanning almandine red, tsavorite green, spessartine orange and color-changing pyrope-spessartine. Crystals grow as dodecahedra with striking geometric perfection.
- How hard is Garnet and what is it made of?
- Garnet is a Garnet group-family mineral with the composition X3Y2(SiO4)3. It crystallizes in the isometric system and rates 6.5-7.5 on the Mohs hardness scale. It occurs in red, green, orange, purple.
- Where does Garnet come from?
- Notable localities for Garnet include India, Madagascar, Tanzania, Namibia.
- How do you tell good Garnet from filler?
- For specimens, look for complete undamaged dodecahedral faces in matrix. For color, garnets are rarely treated, which makes untreated saturation a genuine value.
- How do you care for Garnet?
- Durable and easy to care for. Warm soapy water.
Related stones
See it in person
Photographs only go so far
Both rooms are open six days a week, and there is always someone happy to pull pieces out of the case so you can compare them under the light.