Birthstone — January
Planet — Sun
ABOUT
No garnet is named just ‘garnet’ as there is a huge variety of garnets available. It’s hardness on Moh’s scale thus differs from 6.5 to 7.5. Like tourmaline, Garnets come in rainbow of colors, even though dark orange or pomegranate colored Hessonite Garnet is most popular. Pyrope, Spessartite, almandine, grossularite, uvarovite, andradite are few of its 17 varieties.
COMPOSITION
All different garnets vary in their chemical composition. Almandine garnets are red due to the presence of iron aluminium silicate, calcium aluminium silicate produces grossularite garnet that are green, pyrope garnets are reddish brown due to mangnesium alluminim silicate deposits, hessonite garnet is a cinnamon colored stone, melanite garnets are black, rhodolites are ruby red to purple, Tsavorite is emerald green so on and so forth.
SOURCE
Garnets are found over the world. Bohemian garnets are very famous. Countries like China, Madagascar, Burma, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Brazil, India, Thailand, USA, Kenya, Namibia, UK, Norway, Tunduru, Mali, Zambia, Canada, Mexico, Russia, Korea, Zaire, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Finland, Poland are sources of garnet. Blue garnet is a recent discovery of the 1990’s, found in Madagascar.
Pyrope Hair Comb
FAME
The antique “Pyrope Hair Comb” of the Victorian era embellished with rose cut garnets and the “Bohemian Garnet Brooch” of US First Lady Michelle Obama are two pieces of garnet jewellery that made it to fame.