There are numerous areas and nations where garnets are found. The principal source of the red pyrope garnets that were so well-liked in Victorian times was Bohemia. Most of the garnet used today comes from the African continent. The majority of the brilliant green tsavorites on the market come from Kenya, Tanzania, and Madagascar, but Namibia is currently producing demantoids. Important sources of the rich orange-to-yellow spessartine garnets are Namibia and Tanzania. The birthstone for January is also found in Myanmar, Brazil, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka, among other nations. For many years, Southern California’s Little Three mining region was renowned for producing this mesmerizing jewel.
In This Article...
Where are garnets most frequently discovered?
Where Can You Find Garnet?
- India Orissa in India is where you can get red garnets.
- Myanmar
- Myanmar is home to rare and exquisite reddish orange spessartine garnets.
- Russia
- The unusual deep green form of garnet known as a demantoid garnet originated in Russia.
Where can one find garnet stone?
All across the world, garnets can be found. Garnets come in a variety of forms, and each form can be found in various places. Pyrope is discovered in South Africa, Sri Lanka, China, and Madagascar, whereas almandite is found in India, Brazil, and the United States. Other species include Grossularite from South Africa, Zambia, and Myanmar, Spessartite from China, Tanzania, and Kenya, and Uvarovite from Poland, Russia, and Finland.
Is garnet a rare birthstone?
The most uncommon and expensive kind of January’s birthstone is the brilliant green demantoid garnet, which was first found in 1851 in Russia’s Ural Mountains.
Demantoid is a derivative of the Dutch word “demant” for diamond. Due to the stone’s high refractive index and great dispersion, which both contribute to its amazing diamond-like brightness (its ability to separate light into the spectrum of colors). In fact, demantoid, including diamond, has the highest dispersion rating of any gemstone.
The famous jeweled eggs and other ornate jewelry pieces Carl Faberg made for the Russian Imperial family featured demantoid, a favorite green stone of his. After the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, demantoid garnet mining in Russia was put on hold; however, it was eventually revived in the 1970s.
The samples on this page are especially stunning because fine-quality demantoid garnets are rarely found in sizes higher than 2 carats.
One of the largest and finest faceted demantoids known is the cushion-cut demantoid, which is a gemstone of international renown. The 11.24-carat diamond, which displays the highly sought-after brilliant, deep emerald-green color, was discovered in a Russian mine in the late 1990s. In 2011, the gem was added to the Smithsonian Gem and Mineral Collection.
The round demantoid, 6.96 carats in weight, is from Namibia’s Green Dragon Mine and has a medium dark yellowish-green hue. It was bought in 2014 using money from the Tiffany & Co. Foundation on behalf of the Smithsonian.
George F. Kunz, who served as Tiffany & Co.’s vice president of gemology from 1879 until his death in 1932, was an admirer of demantoid garnets and is said to have bought every piece of uncut gemstone he could get his hands on.
Although demantoid diamonds often have great levels of clarity, they can have recognizable “horsetail” inclusions that seem to shoot out from the center of the stone. According to the International Color Stone Association, a lovely, well-formed inclusion can significantly raise the gemstone’s value.
There are currently demantoid garnet mines in Iran, Namibia, Pakistan, Italy, Madagascar, Canada, and Italy, but the Russian demantoid remains the gold standard by which all other demantoid garnets are measured.
Demantoid of African origin typically has greater iron concentrations and is more likely to be yellowish-green, olive green, or brownish. Russian materials, on the other hand, are typically bright green and attribute their color to chromium.
Pyrope, almandine, andradite, grossularite, hessonite, rhodolite, tsavorite, spessartine, and uvarovite are more garnet variants that are used in jewelry.
Credits: Harold and Erica Van Pelt/Smithsonian provided the image of the 11.24-carat demantoid garnet. Greg Polley/Smithsonian took this 6.96-carat demantoid garnet picture.
What nation is famous for garnet?
For many decades, the Czech Republic has been the source of the finest garnets. Garnets occur in a number of hues and varieties; while most people picture a blood-red stone, they also come in black, translucent, and a rare green form.
Abstract
Currently, roughly 16% of the world’s industrial garnet production is consumed in the United States for abrasive airblasting, abrasive coatings, filter media, waterjet cutting, and grinding. The amount of domestic garnet production, which peaked at 74,000 t in 1998, has decreased as of 2005, and imports have increased to the point where as much as 60% of the garnet used in the United States in 2003 was brought in, primarily from India, China, and Australia; Canada has since joined the list of suppliers. Almandite (also known as almandine), which has a high specific gravity and hardness, is the most common variety of garnet utilized; andradite, which is less dense and hard than almandite, is also widely employed.
Gneiss, amphibolite, schist, skarn, and igneous rocks, as well as alluvium formed by the weathering and erosion of these rocks, are the primary sources of industrial-grade garnet. There are garnet mines and occurrences in 21 States, but only three are now operating (2006): one in southeastern Montana, one in northern Idaho, and one in eastern New York (unweathered bedrock; two mines). The Wallace Formation of the Proterozoic Belt Supergroup, which is associated with garnetiferous metapelites, is where garnet is mined in Idaho. Tertiary and (or) Quaternary sedimentary deposits occur nearby. The crystalline rocks of the Adirondack Mountains, which are a part of the Proterozoic Grenville province, and the southern Taconic Range, which is a portion of the northern Appalachian Mountains, are mined for garnet in New York. Amphibolite, mica schist, gneiss of Archean age, and younger granite are among the sources of garnet in placers in Montana. Garnet was made from saprolite and gold dredge tailings at two recently closed mines in southwest Montana.
The majority of the Eastern States along the Appalachian Mountains and some Western States where industrial-grade garnet or its potential occurrence has been documented are covered in this report’s analysis of the history of garnet mining and manufacture. In almost all of the areas where garnet can be utilized, other organic and synthetic materials compete with garnet; garnet, however, has the advantages of being recyclable, nontoxic, and nonreactive. Additionally, garnet spills are generally harmless and simple to clean up, and it produces significantly less dust than other abrasive compounds.
What states are garnet found in?
India and the Idaho Panhandle National Forests are the only two areas in the world where you may locate star garnets. These garnets are known as “star garnets” because of a special characteristic that makes some of them reflect light in the shape of a four- or six-pointed star. These kind of star garnets are only found in any significant quantities in India.
Sand-sized to golf-ball-size or larger, the 12-sided (dodecahedron) crystals found here are present. The Garnet Area also has faceting materials of gem-quality.
The Garnet Area has been created by the Forest Service so that people can safely and sustainably acquire these rare gems there. People used to dig in the stream bed to look for garnets in the past. The Forest Service now offers a stockpile of garnet-bearing gravels from which people can gather material to run through one of two sluice boxes in search of garnets due to concerns about water quality, aquatic habitat, and public safety.
Reservations exclusively through recreation.gov will be accepted for tickets to the Garnet Area.
There will be no on-site ticket sales.
Where is the garnet mined?
The Adirondacks’ gemstone is garnet, and Barton Mine has garnets. The garnet is incredibly uncommon because these are the hardest garnets in the world and can only be found on Gore Mountain. Governor Nelson Rockefeller designated the Barton garnet as the state gemstone of New York in 1969.
Granite has garnet, right?
Around the world, garnets can be found in a variety of geological settings. The majority of garnet is created during the metamorphosis of sedimentary rocks containing a lot of aluminum, including shale (subjected to heat and pressure). The chemical bonds in the rocks are broken by the intense heat and pressure, which causes minerals to re-crystallize. In those circumstances, the newly formed minerals, like garnet, are more stable. Where two tectonic plates are convergent, this process frequently happens. Additionally, igneous rocks like granite and basalt contain garnets.
Garnet is frequently found in sedimentary rocks or material that has undergone extensive weathering and where only the hardest materials remain, such as mineral sand dunes, since it is relatively resistant to abrasion and chemical weathering.
What is the cost of garnet?
Real garnets in rich green, orange, and purple colors can cost as little as $500 per carat for inclusion-filled stones and as much as $7,000 for flawless, larger stones in the best color. 100 grams of heavily included common red garnet can be purchased for $20.
Garnet Value (Price) per Different Units
We are happy to describe costs of faceted garnets in carats and grams because the value of gem-quality garnets is rarely quantified in ounces, pounds, and kilograms. Raw material costs are stated in ounces, pounds, and kilograms.
TIP: As you can see, garnet costs can vary greatly depending on the grade of the stone, and to make matters worse, the garnet specimen is false. See the article below for the key distinctions between genuine garnets and imitations:
Garnet Value (Price) per Different Colors
The values of garnet for various colors are listed in this table. The most expensive garnets are those that are orange, green, or purple.
Do you know what determines the color of rocks? Discover more in the article below. It is extremely amazing why different rocks have varied colors.
Garnet Value (Price) per Different Type
This table provides an overview of various garnet varieties’ raw and faceted components.
Here is a brief description of the three most challenging and usually misunderstood garnet types so that you can comprehend the various garnet varieties better:
- Uncut garnet: crystal fragments
- Red garnet from the Czech Republic is known as bohemian garnet.
- Pinkish-orange blend of pyrope, almandine, and spessartine garnets known as Malaya garnet
- pure golden andradite garnet, or topazolite
A garnet is it a ruby?
How do you differentiate a garnet from a ruby? Garnets exhibit a deep, darker red colour and are eye-clean, in contrast to rubies, which have a pure, brilliant red color with faults or inclusions. Additionally, if the stone is a garnet, the band of rainbow colors will also include yellow and green tones when held up to the light.