Garnet
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GARNET
Garnets are one of the biggest families of the mineral realm. Contrary to popular belief, not all garnets are red.
A garnet can in fact be any color except blue. This is because while they all share the same cubic crystalline structure their chemical properties, although similar, can vary and this modifies their color.
Whenever a jeweler refers to a garnet without further qualification he is referring to a pyrope, a dark red stone whose shade is that of the color garnet. The other stones in this group are known either by their specific name, or as a garnet, but modified by an indication of their color.
Although garnets are often a shade of red, such as almandine which is a deep red with tinges of purple, rhodolite is pink and the very precious demantoid is emerald-green. Hessonite or cinnamon stone is dark orange, spessartite is yellow-orange and tsavorite, a recently discovered variety, is a strong green. Silicates of aluminum, magnesium, iron, manganese or calcium. Hardness: 6.5 to 7.5. Birthstones of the month of January.
Their planet is Mars. Symbols of fidelity, courage, energy. India, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Russia, Zambia, Madagascar, Australia, Brazil, China,Tanzania.
