A crystal of garnet
Garnets are members of a family of minerals rather than a specific type of gemstone. The garnet is typically associated with a deep red hue that shares its name; while this is the most common color, the stones can come in virtually all shades except blues -- the most diverse color range of any gemstone. Garnets belong to several different species, each of which is associated with a typical color.
Red -- Pyrope
The most well-known of the garnet varieties, pyrope garnets fall within the deep red spectrum. They may be a purple- or orange-red or a deep crimson, and are usually glasslike in luster. High-quality pyrope garnets from the region of the former Czechoslovakia are often known as Bohemian garnets. During the 18th and 19th centuries, pyrope garnets were held in high fashion and often used in Victorian jewelry. Pyrope may be found combined with another type of garnet, almandine, to form a compound garnet called rhodolite.
Orange -- Spessartite
Far less common than pyrope, spessartite garnets may range from yellow or orange through true red to reddish-brown or even dark black-brown. Pure spessartite is orange, though it often contains iron impurities that yield reddish tones. Because spessartite is rare, and often is not of gemstone quality when it is found, it is one of the lesser-known varieties -- though it may be mixed with almandine to make a dark purple variety known as "grape garnet."
Multicolored -- Grossular
Pure grossular garnet is colorless, but is very often tainted with impurities, giving grossular the widest color range of all the garnet varieties. Pinks, greens, oranges, browns and yellows are all common grossular garnet colors. Hessonite (transparent oranges and orange-browns) and tsavorite (deep green) are two of the most popular types of grossular garnet. It may be known as South African jade and used in carvings rather than for gemstones; it was often mistaken for true jade in ancient Oriental trading markets.
Andradite -- Yellow or Green
The most lustrous of all garnets, andradite's "dispersion" or "fire" is said to exceed that of even the diamond. Andradite has nonetheless fallen out of fashion. Demantoid, a green type of andradite, was very popular in the 1800s, but its softness and relative rarity make it unusual today. Yellow andradite, or topazolite, is so rarely found in crystals of sufficient size for faceting that it is exceedingly unusual in jewelry. Melanite, which is opaque black or dark red, once found use in mourning jewelry, but has very little application in contemporary jewelry making.
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