Heather Cote - January Birthstone
Monday, January 07, 2013 by: Baytoday Business Wire
Feature, BayToday.ca- Heather Cote
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January Birthstone ~ Garnet
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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(19th 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.
Types of Garnet with Colour
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.
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: Gem Select
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”…for graciously allowing me to use his wonderful photos…without them the post would lack color!
Joe is on flickr.com…take a look at his photos. Orbital Joe Photos
See Photo Gallery below for:
#1 http://www.flickr.com/photos/orbitaljoe/38414423/ This Grossular Garnet Specimen is from Sierra Del Cruz in Coahuila, Mexico. This specimen exhibits pretty "raspberry" Grossular Garnets in a Wollastinite Matrix.
#2 http://www.flickr.com/photos/orbitaljoe/411488049/ 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
#3 http://www.flickr.com/photos/orbitaljoe/3815245170/ Smithsonian 8-10-09 – 102 Grossular Garnet
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
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