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Garnet the mineral.
Scientifically garnet refers to a group of minerals only a few of which are used as gemstones. Garnets are made up of silica oxide combined with two metals. The metals are either calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, aluminium or calcium. It is the combination of these metals in pairs with the silica oxide that differentiates the different species and varieties of garnet.
The principle gemstone species of garnet are pyrope garnet, almandine garnet and a variety of grossular garnet called hessonite. Other species of garnet are occasionally cut as gemstones the most interesting being a variety of andradite garnet known as demantoid garnet. (Such pretty names aren't they.) Demantoid is the most valuable variety of garnet, though this doesn't mean much as garnets are amongst the cheapest forms of gemstones. It is a green variety of garnet and it's name means "diamond like lustre". Scientifically this lustre is referred to as dispersion and the garnet demantoid actually has a higher dispersion than diamond or indeed any other gemstone.
Pyrope garnet is the most common variety of gemstone garnet. It is this mineral that is generally understood and known as garnet being typically deep red in colour but varying from orange to reddish brown. This variety of garnet is found in quantities in Myanmar (formerly Burma), Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon), China, Madagascar, South Africa, Tanzania and the United States.
Almandine is another common red garnet. It can be confused with pyrope garnet but chemically almandine garnet has iron and aluminium metals as appose to manganese and aluminium in pyrope garnet. Quantities of this garnet are found in India, Sri Lanka, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Madagascar and Brazil.
The third commonly used garnet gemstone is hessonite. Hessonite is a variety of the species of garnet called grossular garnets. This garnet varies in colour from golden yellow to cinnamon brown. Hessonite garnet is found in Sri Lanka, India, Madagascar, Tanzania, South Africa, Brazil, The United States and Canada.
Apart from their use as gemstones garnets are also used as abrasives in place of the likes of emery. Garnets have also been used in the production of iron.
Garnet the gemstone.
The use of garnets in jewellery extends back at least five thousand years. Prehistoric graves of 3,000 B.C excavated in Czechoslovakia have yielded garnet beads that have been drilled presumably to hang on necklaces of bracelets. Garnet is mentioned in the Old Testament as one of the "natural blessings" bestowed by God upon Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. Intaglios (gemstones with motifs cut into them) of garnet have been found from the ancient world, while in ancient Rome there is documentary evidence of large garnet stones being made into vessels for drinking.
A fourteenth century Emperor of China had a large almandine garnet as a ball in his cap. This garnet jewel cost 100,000 strings of money. I don't know how much a string of money is but I wouldn't like to count 100,000 of them. Jewellery featuring almandine garnet was also popular in Celtic and Saxon times, with slab like pieces of garnet being frequently used for inlays.
In fourteenth century Bohemia garnet was not only being used for necklaces, bracelets and other jewellery but also to decorate church interiors. Locally found garnets were used. Particularly fine examples of garnet decorated chapels can be seen in Prague in the cathedral of St. Vitus and the in the castle of Karlstein. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the popularity of Bohemian made garnet necklaces and bracelets and other garnet jewellery spread across Europe and the world. Commonly featuring small clusters of small garnet stones, Bohemian jewellery became exceedingly fashionable and was exported in large quantities. In has been estimated that 10,000 people were once employed in the garnet industry in Bohemia. Of these 3,000 were employed in the cutting and polishing of garnet stones ready for them to be set in necklaces, bracelets and pendants e.t.c. A great many very fine garnet necklaces and bracelets were produced and exported from Bohemia. Though no longer as fashionable as in the nineteenth and eighteenth centuries garnet remains a popular gemstone, whether being used as small stones to set of more valuable gems or as the principle attraction in garnet necklace or bracelet.
Garnet and its names.
The name garnet is derived from the Latin for pomegranate. This is because small garnet crystals resemble the seeds of the pomegranate. Pyrope is from the Greek for fiery and refers to the fire red colour of this species of garnet. Almandine garnet derives its name from the town of Alabanda in turkey were it was found and extensively worked. Grossular garnet is from the Latin for gooseberry due to the green colour of varieties of this garnet.
Garnet is a good example of the confusion that abounds in the naming of gemstones. Garnets found in Czechoslovakia are marketed as bohemian garnets. So far simple enough I can cope with that. However pyrope garnet from South Africa is sold as Cape ruby while some garnets found in the United States are sold as Arizona rubies. Pyrope garnet from Sri Lanka and India is often sold as almandine garnet, and almandine garnets have in the past been referred to as Syrian garnet and Adelaide ruby. Hessonite garnet is sometimes known as cinnamon stone or kaneel stone and in Sri Lanka is inaccurately marketed as jacinth. However hessonite garnet from South Africa is even more misleadingly marketed as South African jade or Transvaal jade. I suppose at the end of the day one may paraphrase Shakespeare "A garnet by any other name looks just as pretty."
Garnet stone of the month.
Garnet is the stone of the month (or birth stone) for January, along with rose quartz. Red garnett is also held to have an association with the planet Mars
