3.22 Carat Spessartine Garnet

Learn about Garnet: Garnet is a family of lovely minerals that all possess the same crystalline structure. Garnet is split up into different members based on the chemical constituents within this structure. These members include Almandine, Spessartine, Pyrope, Andradite, Grossular, and Uvarovite. Garnet members often blend together and form some of the most well known varieties such as Malaya and Rhodolite. General hardness ranges are between 7-7.5 with no cleavage planes, but some members have a hardness of 6.5 on the Mohs scale - these include the well known Hessonite and Demantoid varieties. While the softer varieties may not be as well suited for rings, they can be very beautiful and eye catching in more protected mounts such as pendants and earrings. Colors range from the most common and well known saturated reds (as with Almandine and Pyrope) to bright pinks, purples, greens, oranges, yellows, browns, opaque black, and even color changing! The refractive index ranges from 1.72 to 1.81+ depending on variety. Garnets are not often treated by any means, and while lab grown garnets are produced, they do not contain the chemical signature of natural garnets; this makes them easily distinguishable.