January Birthstone

 ~  Garnet~

The January birthstone is the beautiful garnet, at least I think it is beautiful…having said that over the years it hasn’t been a popular stone, especially the deep red…I’m not sure why that is?   As always point form is easier and faster to read…

• Garnet is a group of minerals, not one stone
• Comes in a rainbow of colors, ranging from deep red, multi shades of green, yellow, blue, blue-green,(although I’ve read garnet does not come in blues, but the stone turns blue in artificial light) vivid orange, earth and umbra shades.
• Garnet comes from the word granatum, which means seed…it is called this as it resembles the  pomegranate seed
• Also found the reference that garnet comes from the word granum, meaning gain…which is supposed to refer to the rounded shape.
• It is thought the Egyptians used garnet in jewelry dating back to 3100 B.C.
• Hard and sturdy, easy to work with and wear
• Garnet is not enhanced!
• In 1996 Sotheby’s sold a garnet flower broach(19^th century) from the estate of Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis for $145.000.00
• 1996, in central Australia a giant rough garnet estimated to weigh thousands of tons, measuring nearly a hundred feet across was found by a university student.

 This Grossular Garnet Specimen is from Sierra Del Cruz in Coahuila, Mexico. This specimen exhibits pretty "raspberry" Grossular Garnets in a Wollastinite Matrix.
 

Types of Garnet with color Pyrope:  red garnet, frequently with brown tint Rhodolite:  purplish red or rose-color garnet Almandite: red garnet with violet tint Spessartite:  orange to red-brown garnet. The best specimen comes from Namibia and is called "Mandarin Spessartine". Grossularite:  colorless, green, yellow, brown garnet Hydrogrossular:  dense, opaque greenish variety of grossularite Hessonite:  brown-red variety of garnet Leuco garnet: colorless variety of grossularite Tsavorite:  green to emerald green garnet Andradite:  black, brown, yellow-brown garnet Demantoid:  the most valuable garnet, green to emerald green Melanite:  opaque black variety of andradite Tapazolite: yellow to lemon yellow, topaz-like variety of andradite Uvarovite: emerald green garnet that rarely occurs in gemstone quality. A single Smoky Quartz crystal hosts orange Spessartine Garnet crystals. These orange Garnet crystals are almost entirely flawless inside and out. The crystal faces are sharp and distinct and every Garnet is perfectly clean. Each crystal is like a gemstone in itself...From Wushan, Tongbei, Yunxiau Fujian Province, China and about 2 1/2" long Location found Pyrope: China, Madagascar, Myanmar, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, USA Rhodolite: Brazil, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, USA Almandite: Brazil, India, Madagascar, Sri Lanka and the United States. Smaller deposits exist in Austria and the Czech Republic. Almandine garnet star-stones are found in India and the United States (Idaho). Spessartite: Brazil, China, Kenya, Madagascar, Myanmar, Namibia, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, USA. The best specimens come from Namibia and are called "Mandarin Spessartine (Spessartite) " Grossularite: Canada, Kenya, Mali, Pakistan, Russia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, USA Hydrogrossular: Myanmar, South Africa, Zambia Hessonite: Brazil, Canada, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, USA Leuco garnet: Canada, Mexico, Tanzania Tsavorite: Kenya, Tanzania Andradite: Russia Demantoid: China, Korea, Russia, USA, Zaire Melanite: France, Germany, Italy, USA Tapazolite: Italy, Switzerland, USA Uvarovite: Canada, Finland, India, Poland, Russia, USA The Types of Garnet with color & locations found  was taken directly from: http://www.gemselect.com/gem-info/garnet/garnet-info.php Smithsonian 8-10-09 – 102  Grossular Garnet    As always any questions or comments leave send me an email at hjcote11@gmail.com or leave a comment on my blog… Have a great week. Cheers  I would like to thank “Orbital Joe”…Joe for graciously allowing me to use is wonderful photos…without the post would lack color!  Joe is on flickr.com…take a look at his photos.  http://www.flickr.com/photos/orbitaljoe/

Information Source:

http://www.americangemsociety.org/january-birthstone

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garnet

http://www.gemselect.com/gem-info/garnet/garnet-info.php

http://www.minerals.net/gemstone/garnet_gemstone.aspx