A different type of garnet. Gold hessonite is in a class of its own. Typically a warm yellow with orangy/gold hi-lites. Cannot be confused with any other yellowish gem because of those hi-lites. And it's high refractive index makes for good sparkle.

6.5x4.8mm oval. Lively little gem. Hard to get a picture. Real good cut. Slight treacle in center. Not easy to see. 0.9 cts @ $16/ct.  $14.40

    HA! Joke's on us. Magenta is very likely another of those Almandine/Pyrope mixes of garnet called Rhodolite. The last word isn't in, as it would take a full blown chemical lab run by Mr. Spock to be sure. Beam me up! Either way it's beautiful stuff.

    After reading and re-reading Arem's "Color Encyclopedia of Gemstones", I must say that according to the descriptions there, these orangey garnets would be classified as Spessartite. Not Hessonite. There is only slight mention of orange coloring in some hessonite garnet, which is classified as being in the grossular garnet family. However, the term grossular includes all the colors that are not red. So I'll go with that and call them hessonites. Clear as mud? Hessonites are commonly included with small bubbles called "treacle". That should not influence purchasing considerations. Most of these here are not badly included enough to affect their beauty.

    Speesartite Garnet is a class of Garnet all its own.  Not seen all that often. That's why there's only three here. I'm looking for more. It is more dense and has a higher refractive index than most other Garnets.  So Spessartine can be very sparkly. Colors are primarily orange-red , orange, yellow-brown and reddish brown.  Malaya Garnet is a Spessartite-Pyrope mix from the Umba River valley in Tanzania. Colors can be orange, red-orange, peach and pink.

    Almandite/Pyrope mix resulting in various shades of purplish/red all the way from magenta to mauve pink. Has a slight bluish color shift when seen in sunlight or fluorescent. Referred to amongst the in the know crowd as the queen of garnets. Sounds like commercial hype? Well, I have to admit, it is one of my favorite materials. I got a killer deal this year and the prices below are great. Rhodolite normally goes for $8 - $20 per carat. Don't miss out on this chance to get good Rhodolite at these very reasonable prices.

      AH!!  If rhodolite is queen, then tsavorite is the king of garnets. Named after the Tsavo national park in Kenya, where it was first found. A member of the Grossular garnet family. It gets its deep green color from traces of Chromium, but mostly from Vanadium. Fine Tsavorite rivals emerald in intense coloration. Yet at more moderate prices. Unfortunately, large tsavorites are very hard to come by. And clean ones are almost as hard to find. Everyone should own some of these, even if only as a collector stone. Fool your friends.

   Please forgive these images. They do not show the really intense chrome green of these fine gems. It's hard to capture the deep color without losing definition. But believe me, the color is deeper.