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Types of garnet | One of the most exotic and popular gemstones in jewelry

on November 26, 2023

Garnet stone is one of the most attractive and popular jewels in the jewelry industry due to its striking luster and intricate light patterns. It can be found in a wide variety of colors such as orange, red, yellow, green, blue, black and purple. Its chemical composition varies according to its species and it has a hardness on the Mohs scale between 6.5 and 7.5 which makes it very durable as jewelry to wear. 

types of garnets

In this article we are going to describe the most outstanding types of garnet you should know.

Almandine garnet

Also known as almandine or almandite, this garnet has a great variability of colors ranging from red and brown to deep red with purple tints, which differentiates it from other garnet types.  This variety has been used since ancient times and is one of the best known and most affordable.

It has a hardness of 7.5 on the Mosh scale and thanks to its luster it is a very popular choice, as it suits any type of jewelry.

types of garnets almandite

Andradite garnet

It includes the demantoid, melanite and topazolite varieties. This variety has a composition of iron and calcium. It is a rather hard and heavy stone, whose appearance is translucent, it can even become opaque. It can be found in shades from brownish orange to yellow, green and black.

At Albert Hern you can get exclusive accessories inlaid with green garnet stones like this one:

Granate Demantoide

It is part of the andradite family and is the most valuable of the different types of garnet that can be found, thanks to its incomparable luster and dispersion. It is a garnet composed of calcium and together with Grossularia are the most common exponents of green garnets. 

Because of its green hue, in ancient times it was confused with Emerald and later it was sold as Chrysolite, the old name of Peridot.

If you like green garnets, check out these options of pieces that we offer at Albert Hern:

 

Garnet grossularia

Grossularia includes the varieties of hessonite, leuco, hydrogrosularia and tsavorite. Grossularia is the most multicolored of the garnets and this is due to several "impurities" in its chemical composition, as the pure gem is colorless. 

It is difficult to distinguish between garnet stones of this type and andradites, for this it is necessary to use a geochemical comparison method.

Hessonite garnet

Although most of the garnets gems belonging to the grosularia family are green, the hessonite variety is distinguished by its particular cinnamon color, which combines honey yellow, red and brown. This characteristic has made it known as the cinnamon stone. Its color is the result of the interaction of manganese in its composition.

types of garnets hessionite

(OldEarthMinerals)

 

Leuco Garnet

This type of garnet is completely colorless. It is pure grosulite, therefore, it does not contain chromophores and is considered a type of rare garnet found in few areas of the world such as Tanzania or Canada. Its name is derived from the Greek word "leukos" which translates to brilliant or white. Garnet grosularia is the only gem quality mineral, found naturally in colorless crystals.

Type of garnets Leuco

(Frograregems)

 

Rhodolite garnet

It is known as rhodolite, a combination of almandine garnet and pyrope. It is believed that the name comes from the Greek word "rodhon" which means rose. This variety is the lighter color than the other types of red garnet, because it presents a combination between red and violet very attractive, resulting in a reddish almost purple hue that can even be confused with a ruby.

These beautiful earrings by Albert Hern have just this particular color of rhodolite:

 

Topazolite garnet

Belonging to the category of andradite, this type of garnet is yellow and greenish yellow, almost with a lemon color. It is very similar to topaz, so its name is derived from this coincidence. The rarity of topazolite garnet, makes it difficult to find because there is no abundant production in the world. The most important deposit is located in Madagascar, where the highest quality garnets are extracted.

type of garnets topazolite

 

Tsavorite garnet

It is the best known and most used green variety of garnet. Its particular emerald green shade is due to the presence of vanadium and chromium in its structure. It is only found in Africa, in the Tsavo National Park where it gets its name, on the border of Tanzania and Kenya.

Its shades vary from yellowish green to the most intense or bluish green. The most sought after tsavorite garnet is the intense saturated green.

In Albert Hern you can find different pieces with tsavorite:

Uvarovite garnet

This variety of rare garnet has an emerald green shade, preferred by collectors for its particular luster and color. They are usually mixed with chrome minerals and are found in areas such as Russia, Spain, Canada, Finland, Norway and South Africa.

type of garnets uvarovite

 

Spessartite Garnet

Of the garnet colors, the spessartite variety has intense shades of orange-red with a special brilliance, which has given it the title of incarnation of the sun in a gemstone.  It has been commonly marketed under the name of mandarin garnet since 1990. This category includes a rare garnet color-changing hybrid called Malayan or Malaia garnet.

If you are a mandarin garnet lover, this Albert Hern piece is perfect:

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