Mandarin Garnet Spessartite

What makes Spessartite Mandarin Garnet gemstones so special?

Besides its wonderful colors, Mandarin Garnet, spessartite garnet, has additional advantages which make it a truly unique and valuable gemstone. There is its hardness of 7-7.5, making it perfect for any piece of jewelry.  Additionally these gemstones have a remarkably high refraction of light, giving it an exceptional brilliance. Even in unfavorable lighting conditions small, well cut Mandarin garnets will sparkle vividly.   The refractive index (RI), measured using a refractometer, is an indication of the amount light rays are bent by a mineral.  Birefringence is the difference between the minimum and maximum RI. When birefringence is high, light rays reflect off different parts of the back of a stone causing an apparent doubling of the back facets when viewed through the front facet.  Spessartite garnet is singly refractive and thus has no birefringence.

Color

 

Spessartite garnet is ideochromatic, meaning that it is colored by a fundamental element in its composition. That element is manganese, which produces an orange color. Take away the manganese, and it would no longer be spessartite. Thus spessartite has only one basic color – orange.  That said, the color may be modified slightly by mixing with iron, in the form of almandine. This produces a deeper, more reddish coloration.  Spessartites occur in three basic flavors. There are the light and bright stones, which come from Nigeria, Ramona, California, and the deeper reddish orange stones that also come from Nigeria. Then there are the fabulous tangerine orange “mandarin” garnets from Namibia, which are in a class all by themselves. 

Spessartite garnet can be found in all the ranges of orange from the color of ripe peaches to deepest red orange. The most valuable spessarties are a bright, orangish red.  These command the highest prices.  All the colors of mandarin spessartite garnet seem to announce energy and the joy of life, individuality and spirit of adventure. A person wearing an orange Spessartite Mandarin Garnet may have no inhibitions about being noticed, this color signals self-confidence. It is unmistakably the color for extroverted people.

Cut

Spessartites are generally cut similar to other colored stones, with ovals, cushions, trillions and emerald cuts being most common. Other popular mandarin garnet shapes include rounds, marquises, briolettes, hearts and pears.  The lack of pleochroism means that orientation is not a problem and the equidimensional shape of the rough generally provides good yields from rough to cut. Cabochon-cut spessartites are also seen on occasion, particularly with the Namibian mandarin spessartites, which tend to be more heavily included.

Fancy Spessartite Garnet Gems

Mandarin Garnet Gem Prices

Orange Spessartite Garnet

Nigerian Spessartite Earring Gemstones

Mandarin Garnet Value

Treatments

Unlike many colored stones, spessartites are not currently enhanced by any method.

Sources

 

 

Gem spessartite has been found at a number of localities around the world, including Brazil, Burma, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Sri Lanka and the USA (San Diego County, CA and Amelia Court House, VA). Of these sources, the most important today are Nigeria and northeast Namibia, in the vicinity of the Marienfluss River.

Africa

 

The discovery of the iron-free, brilliant orange spessartite garnet in Namibia in 1991, in commercial quantities created a sensation in the jewelry trade. The deposit lay in mica schist along the course of the Kunene river in the mountainous northwest area bordering Angola. Few inclusions marred the excellent crystals. The name hollandine was chosen for its introduction as a spectacular new gemstone. This was changed to Mandarin garnet when it was discovered that hollandine denotes a little-known metal. Within less than five years time, the deposit was depleted, and the area closed. The planned recovery of material from metamorphic bedrock in the rugged terrain surrounding the first find will be more difficult. Crystals recovered from the surface layer of this area contain numerous inclusions of tremolite, but cleaner material lies below. In 1999, a new source of the pinkish-orange gemstone was discovered in a remote area of Nigeria. Though the material was more yellow than the orange Namibian crystals, the size and abundance of the material made the public more aware of and increased the demand for spessartite gems. Despite great expectations, this deposit, too, was quickly depleted. Acquisition of material from the Nigerian area is sporadic and available only in small amounts from local native traders. Currently, developers are investigating a promising new deposit of a high (reputedly 90% or more) manganese content material located in the gem-rich Alto Mirador pegmatite dike of Paraiba in Brazil.

 

 

USA

Many deposits within the United States produce fine gem-quality garnets, although gem-quality Spessartite garnet is rare.  The following is a list of garnet-producing states in the U.S.

Alaska.--Garnets from deposits along the Stikine River, often called "Wrangell garnet" after the nearest town which is located on Wrangell Island, are famous as mineral specimens because of their near perfect crystalline form. The garnets have limited use as gemstones because of their deep red color, however some cabochons are cut from them.

Arizona.--Arizona is one of five States that has commercial production of gem garnets. Arizona's gem garnet is red pyrope from two locations in the extreme northern portion of Apache County on the Navajo Indian Reservation. One location is at Garnet Ridge which is about 8 km west of the town of Mexican Water, and the other location is in Buell Park on the Arizona and New Mexico border, about 16 km north of Fort Defiance. Faceted stones cut from materials from these locations average 1/2 to 1-1/2 carats in size, but stones as large as 5 carats are known from these locations. Additionally, fine-quality andradite specimens, some suitable for cutting, are available from an area near Stanley in Graham Co.

California.--Gem- and specimen-quality white to pale green grossularite garnet occurs on Indian Creek in Siskiyou County and along Traverse Creek near Georgetown in Eldorado County. Other locations for these types of grossularites are the south side of Watts Valley in Fresno County, near Selma in Tulare County, near Big Bar in Butte County and near El Toro in Orange County. Some of the finest quality spessartite garnet known come from pegmatites in San Diego County. Spessartites have been found on Gem Hill near Mesa Grande and in mines in the Rincon and Pala Districts. The most productive area with the finest quality garnets is on the western side of Hatfield Creek Valley near Romona. Near Indian Head Hill in San Diego County is a deposit of fine-quality hessonite garnet, and another deposit is near Dos Cabezas.

Colorado.--Faceting-grade spessartite garnets can be found in the gas cavities in the rhyolite flow on Ruby Mountain near Nathrop, Chaffee County. Large specimen-grade garnets are available at the abandoned Salida Copper Mine.

Connecticut.--Garnet in mica schist near Roxbury and Roxbury Falls in Litchfield County was once mined, although not recently, for use in abrasive applications and for mineral specimens. The andradite garnet was found as well-formed dodecahedral crystals that separate easily from the host schist.

Idaho.--Alluvial deposits of almandite garnet were discovered in the early 1880's near Fernwood in Benewah County, but commercial gem and industrial mining did not start until the early 1940's. The deposits are on Emerald, Carpenter, and Meadow Creeks about 6.4 km from a mica-garnet schist formation. The garnet-bearing gravels are about 1 m to about 1.2 m thick and contain 8% to 15% garnet. These deposits are the basis of the largest industrial garnet mine in the nation and also produce gem garnet. Additionally, star garnets are produced from the placers of Purdue Creek in Latah County.

Idaho's deposits also are the only ones in the world, besides India, that produces significant amounts of star garnets. These almandite garnets are translucent, purplish-red stones that show four- or six-ray stars when cabochon cut, or are transparent, deep red stones that can be faceted. The asterism is the result of silky rutile inclusions.

Gem-quality garnets also are produced commercially from an area of the Little North Fork and North Fork of the Clearwater River in Clearwater County. They range from purplish rose-red to a highly prized "special pink." Gem-quality garnets occur at a number of other locations in Idaho and are periodically mined by hobbyists or professional collectors for the gemstone market.

Montana. -- Several alluvial deposits of almandite-pyrope garnet are located on the drainages of the Ruby River in Madison County. One such deposit, the Alder Gulch deposit, is in the alluvial fan formed where Alder Gulch joins the Ruby River Valley. The deposit contains about 40 million tons of old placer gold tailings that grade 4.5% almandite-pyrope garnet. The alluvium consists of high-energy, fluvial, well-rounded material, approximately 50% of which is +9 mm in size. The source of garnet along the Ruby River is highly metamorphosed Archean rocks in the Tobacco Root and Greenhom Mountain Ranges to the east. The garnets are present mostly as broken fragments of crystals which were originally as much as several centimeters in diameter. Some of the garnets from this industrial garnet deposit are of gem quality.

Bright red and orange red, to reddish-pink pyrope-almandite garnets are found associated with sapphires in the gravels of the Missouri River near Helena in Lewis and Clark County.

Nevada.--An alluvial deposit of almandite garnet is found along Hampton Creek Canyon in White Pine County about 3 km from the mouth of the canyon. No production history is available for the deposit. The source of the garnet is quartz-garnet-mica-staurolite schist that forms a portion of the walls of the canyon.

Spessartine garnets can be found at several locations in White Pine County. Most of the dark brown crystals are of interest only as specimen, but a few will cut very small clear stones.

New Hampshire.--A garnet deposit is located near North Wilmont in Merrimack County, where small alrnandite crystals are found in a biotite, quartz, and albite feldspar matrix. The crystals range up to about 19 mm in diameter but average only 6 to 10 mm in diameter.

New York.--Deposits of industrial garnet are found at two locations in New York. In the Gore Mountain area, industrial garnet is mined as the primary product; and near the town of Willsboro, byproduct of it is recovered as wollastonite mining.

The deposit near Gore Mountain is an almandite-bearing diorite of uncertain, igneous or metamorphic origin. The garnet is present as imperfectly developed crystals surrounded by a rim of coarsely crystalline hornblende. The crystals range from about 1 millimeter to almost 1 meter in diameter but average about 100 millimeters in diameter. The garnet has a pronounced laminated structure, which enables it to naturally break into thin plates from about 2 to 6 millimeters in thickness. Garnet fragments maintain this platy particle shape even as they are crushed smaller and smaller.

These same deposits in Warren County contain good to fine quality facet-grade garnets. The garnet is a solid solution of pyrope-almandite-grossularite that results in a pleasant deep brownish-red material which often has an orange cast. Beautiful small stones can be cut, but larger stones are too dark to be attractive.

North Carolina.--Large deposits of almandite and rhodolite garnet of gem and abrasive quality are known in Clay, Jackson, Macon, Madison, and Burke Counties. Abrasive-grade garnet was produced from some of these deposits from 1900 to about 1926, but no production has been recorded recently. The deposit of almandite garnet in Clay County is in a hornblende gneiss at Penland Bald on Buck Creek.

Fine red colored, gem-quality pyrope garnets have been found in the wastes from placer gold operations in Burke, McDowell, and Alexander Counties. Rose-pink rhodolite garnets are recovered from gravels in Cowee Creek near Franklin, and Mason's Branch near Iotla, both in Macon County. Rhodolite can be found in situ on Mason Mountain.

 

 

Pennsylvania.--Almandite garnet crystals are found in a quartzose mica schist about 1.6 km west of Chelsea in Delaware County. Near the surface the schist is badly weathered and the garnets, which comprise as much as 75% of the rock locally but average much less, are easily recovered. Abrasive-grade garnet was produced from this deposit prior to 1900, but no production has been recorded since the turn of the century.

Small trapezohedral crystals of almandite garnet are scattered through-out a badly decomposed gneiss near Chester Heights, also in Delaware County. An attempt was made to mine this deposit years ago by means of a shaft and underground workings.

Utah.--Large specimen-grade, apple-green grossularite garnets have been found in western Beaver County. Two locations southeast of Mexican Hat, San Juan County produce pyrope garnets similar to the bright red pyropes from Arizona and New Mexico.

Virginia.--A deposit of garnet is located on a steep bluff on the northeast side of the Tyle River about 6.5 km south of Arrington in Nelson County. The small, dull-red garnets are found in a sericitic schist. Attempts were made to mine the deposit in the past, but there is no record of commercial production.

Two mines in Amelia County account for the majority of the production of gem-quality garnet, they are the Morefield and Rutherford. The spessartine from these mines, primarily the Rutherford, are etched-crystal masses and fragments, not individual perfect crystals. The pieces range from pea size to as large as a grapefruit. In 1991, a single piece, dubbed the Rutherford Lady, was found that weighed more than 2,800 carats. Color varies from a fantastic light pure orange, almost yellow to shades of red-orange, red, and brownish-red, but the orange overtone always is present.

U.S. production of gem-grade garnet will continue to increase and additional deposits will be brought into production in the coming years.

Fancy Mandarin Garnet Gems

Fine Value Mandarin Spessartite Garnet

Mandarin Garnet Nigeria Gemstone

Spessartite Gems

Vivid Mandarin Garnet Prices

Throughout time, there have been many ancient traditions and legends about the gemstone garnet...

Garnets have been known to Man for thousands of years. Noah, it is said, used a finely cut, glowing garnet within a lantern to help him steer his ark through the dark night.

Many an early explorer and traveler liked to carry a garnet with him, for the garnet was popular as a talisman and protective stone, as it was believed to light up the night and protect its bearer from evil and disaster.

The color orange plays a very important role in Asian arts, Asian gods are often dressed in orange robes, and even the sky may be painted orange.

Orange is also the color for the robes of Buddhist monks, cut from a single piece of cloth.

Yellow and red, the two colors constituting the orange found in mandarin garnet, are not considered opposites in Asia but rather complement each other.

The name “garnet” comes from the Latin word “Garanatus,” meaning “seedlike,” in reference to a pomegranate. This reference makes sense as small garnets look like the bright red seeds you find inside in a pomegranate.

In medieval times, garnets were thought to cure depression, protect against bad dreams, and relieve diseases of the liver, as well as hemorrhages.

Hebrew writers include the garnet as one of the twelve gems in Aaron’s breastplate.

Christian tradition considered the blood-red garnet as a symbol of Christ’s sacrifice.

The Koran holds that the garnet illuminates the Fourth Heaven of the Moslems.

The Greeks said garnet guarded children from drowning. It was also thought to be potent against poisons.

Garnets were found as beads in a necklace worn by a young man in a grave that dates back to 3000 B.C. This is proof of the hardness and durability of the stone.

Mandarin Spessartite Garnet was named after the Spessart district in Bavaria, Germany, where it was originally discovered.

Plato had his portrait engraved on a garnet by a Roman engraver.

Garnet is the Birthstone for the month of January and the stone that celebrates the 2nd anniversary of marriage.

Loose Mandarin Garnet Gems

Spessartite Mandarin Garnet Ring Gem

Mandarin Garnet Bracelet Stone

Spessartite Garnet Gemstone

Fine Spessartite Garnet

Spessartite has always been a rare stone, but a recent discovery of fine quality loose mandarin garnet spessartite in Nigeria has led to an increase in production in recent years. Although the original output had been significant, it is now just a trickle of what it used to be. The percentage of fine spessartite garnet material in larger sizes is very small.  With better quality loose mandarin garnet spessartite getting harder to find all the time, we offer our quality cut spessartite garnet gemstone to you at what maybe your last chance to own this rare beautiful orange mandarin garnet spessartite at a reasonable price.

Highly competitive prices-The widest choice of varieties-Satisfaction quality guaranteed
Shop with confidence no risk - Money - Back - Guarantee
SSL Secure Payments - Fast FedEx delivery 2-4 working days