The garnet family is not confined to the common dark red garnets. There are rare garnets such spessartite, tsavorite, demantoid, rhodolite and color-change. They are among the finest of colored gemstones.
Many gemstone buyers associate garnet with the deep red stones that were enormously popular in European jewelry in the 19th and 18th centuries. These inexpensive garnets mainly belong to the almandine and pyrope varieties. Though they have good hardness and brilliance, they tend to have a distinct brownish tone that makes them less attractive than more expensive red gems such as ruby or rubellite tourmaline.
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However, there are some rare garnet varieties that are much sought after by gem dealers and collectors. These varieties include the mandarin orange spessartite garnet; the green tsavorite and demantoid garnets; the purplish red rhodolite garnet; and the unique color-change garnet. If you think garnet is rather common, these unusual garnets will change your mind.
Spessartite garnet ranges in color from a vivid orange to reddish orange and orange-red. The orange color derives from manganese, while the addition of traces of iron produce a redder color. The finest specimens come from Nigeria, including some which are a very pure mandarin orange. Prices range from around 0 a carat for high quality orange-red stones to over ,000 a carat for the top vivid orange in large sizes.
Tsavorite garnet is a rare grossular garnet colored by chromium. Discovered only in the 1960's, almost all the tsavorite in the world comes from a small area at the intersection of Tanzania and Kenya in east Africa. The best tsavorites rival emerald in color. Found mainly in small sizes, tsavorites over 2 carats are very rare. Prices range from 0 a carat for good colors with some inclusions, to ,000 to ,000 for clean larger stones with top color.
Demantoid garnet is the rarest and most valuable of the garnets and is one of the rarest of all colored gemstones. It is remarkable for its brilliance and fire. The most valuable demantoid comes from Russia, and is distinguished by unique horsetail-pattern inclusions of byssolite. The vivid green color is the most valuable and stones over 1 carat are very rare. Prices for Russian demantoid start at about ,000 per carat. There is also some demantoid from Africa without horsetail inclusions that is less expensive.
Rhodolite garnet is a mixture of almandine and pyrope garnet that is valued for its purplish-red or raspberry color. Unlike the common dark red garnets, rhodolite tends to be lighter in tone and lacks the brownish secondary hue. Rhodolite is the least expensive of the rarer garnets and high quality specimens can be found for as little as - per carat.
Color-change garnet is usually a mixture of pyrope and spessartite garnets that displays different colors under daylight and incandescent light. This phenomenon is rare and valued by collectors. There is a range of color change, but green or bluish green to red or purple tends to be the most dramatic. These rare garnets have been found in Kenya and Madagascar and prices range from about 0 to ,000 per carat, depending on size, color and clarity.
Rare Garnet Prices GARNET
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