#JOTW Purple Garnets Show and Tell

[GailRB]

Yvonne Raley wrote a blog about purple garnets. Interesting

http://cecileraleydesigns.blogspot.com/2015/10/about-those-pretty-grape-purple-garnets.html?m=1

It's possible that there may be several varieties of purple garnet around, however, the Mozambique purple garnets from New Era Gems are Rhodolites. They have been tested (twice to my knowledge) and the results are as follows: 52% pyrope, 47% almandine and 1% andradite. That is Rhodolite. There was no spessartine detected and therefore, they are not Malaia, as the blog suggests.

 

[arabella]

Sungura, thanks for making that collage! It's so pretty and fun to see everyone's garnets together like that. I'm so in love with everyone's purple garnets. I couldn't help myself and I also reached out to Jeff White for a purple garnet of my own. It will be a small round with a color that falls in between NKOTB and Acinom's garnets. I can't wait! -- seriously, patience is definitely not a quality I possess

 

[Sungura]

GailRB. Perhaps there are 2 varieties. As far as I know the location in Mozambique is a secret at this point. I'm going to look into this further

Arabella I'm so excited you are getting a purple garnet of your own since you are so generously giving your concave cut one from Gene to your sister. So now we have 4 PSers waiting for custome cuts by Jeff White.

SapphireCats your Rhodolite collection is impressive. I don't think they are the purple variety but I also love the raspberry reds. Your really huge one is delicious. I think setting in gold will stunning great combination IMO

 

[JulieKae]

I also have a pair that I got from Yvonne and set with a fun color combo - super hard to photograph...

 

[sapphirecats]

I guess there are different varieties or colors of rhodolite? Mine are more fuschia, but is fuschia a type of purple? Im confused

 

[picante27]

I heard from Jeff and my pear is finished!!!
I can't wait to see it in person, but it'll be awhile since it is getting sent straight to David Klass. It is 1.84 carat, 7.25 x 8.66

 

[Sungura]

Yay Picante27!!!! DThat fat pear came out great. What nice proportions and a substantial size. Congrats! Can't wait to see it set


sapphirecats These purple garnets are a new find from Mozambique. They test as rhodolites but have this unique purple color. They have only come to the market recently.

 

[picante27]

I asked Jeff White if he had gotten the lab results back on these neon purple garnets. Here is his reply:

With regard to lab results - I did get them back but don't have them in front of me right now. It is mostly pyrope (around 52% I think), with the balance being almandine and a small amount of andradite. Yes, it appears to have been a pretty small deposit, the exact location of which still isn't known. It was originally attributed to Tanzania, but we now think it is Mozambique.

 

[Acinom]

I heard from Jeff and my pear is finished!!!
I can't wait to see it in person, but it'll be awhile since it is getting sent straight to David Klass. It is 1.84 carat, 7.25 x 8.66

Oooh! It's stunning
I love the proportions of your fat pear. What setting have you chosen for your gorgeous pear?

 

[Sungura]

Twist my arm to take my gems out to play. Here are some examples of how purple garnets pair up with other gems. The worst combinations seems to be the spinels that had any amount of gray in them. Those pics didn't make the cut. Pictures taken with iPhone 6 in sunny dining room at mid day but not in direct sun. The collage uploads oversaturated but I think it serves it's purpost to see the combos. Purple Garnet pictured is a 5mm pair sourced from Yvonne Raley



Red, Orange, Yellow, Pink:
Winza Ruby
Loliondo Spess Garnet
Tanzanian Yellow Danburite
Mahenge Neon Pink Spinel
Sri Lankan Pink Sapphire

Greens
Congo Tourmaline
Peridot
Tanzanian Chysoberyl
Merelani Mint Garnet
Colombian Emerald

Blues
Vietnamese Aquamarine
Apatite (untreated and heated)
Cuprian Tourmaline
Nepalese Kyanite
Luc Yen Colbalt Spinel

Violets
Tanzanite saturated
Tanzanite more pastel
Amethyst
Luc Yen Violet Spinel

 

[Sungura]

JulieKae those are nice dangly earrings. I expect the purple garnets really stand out! What size are the garnets and what is the lower stone in the dangle?

Picante27 thanks for sharing the results of Jeff White's test of the garnets

I'm excited by these new additions. Soon it will be time to update our collages with new stones and jewelry!

 

[picante27]

I heard from Jeff and my pear is finished!!!
I can't wait to see it in person, but it'll be awhile since it is getting sent straight to David Klass. It is 1.84 carat, 7.25 x 8.66

Oooh! It's stunning
I love the proportions of your fat pear. What setting have you chosen for your gorgeous pear?

Thanks Acinom! The design isn't finalized yet, but it will be prong set with a flower petal gallery. The petal direction is goint to be changed to accommodate the pear shape, and I want as few prongs as possible. It'll hopefully look like a lotus blossom. It's going to slide and probably will go in white gold with an adjustable length chain.


Have you decided on a design for your gorgeous cushion garnet???

 

[picante27]

Sungara, I love seeing all those colorful pairings! I think my favorite is the cuprian tourmaline. I like the yellow and green pairings as well.

 

[RSargent]

OOOHH! The Merelani mint! I have one that needs to be set but its smaller than my 7 mm rounds...

 

[Acinom]

Love your setting idea picante!
Still undecided on mine.
Now thinking on one of these:

 

[picante27]

Those are both very beautiful rings Acinom, tough choice! I love vintage jewelry, so the second one appeals to me most, but the first one is gorgeous too!

 

[aac2013]

Picante27 I am soooooo excited for you . I have been checking this thread at least 2 x's daily waiting for you to post a picture of your pear. It turned out beautifully!

 

[arabella]

Sungura: Aww thank you! My favorite color combos for the purple garnet are the greens and the cuprian tourmaline!

JulieKae: What pretty earrings! What is the bottom stone?

Picante27: Excited for you!! I love the fat pear shape and your setting inspiration.

Acinom: LOVE the first setting!!!! I love the orientation of the stone.

 

[apacherose]

Acinom: LOVE the first setting!!!! I love the orientation of the stone.

I, too, find the first setting so exciting- it is visually stunning- and to imagine the juxtaposition of your exquisitely cut purple with the facets of those square cut diamonds- it is just stunning- blows me away.

Sungura- thank you for the collage! Wow!!! I love it and am saving it in my photos.

Lovely pear! More pics, please

 

[_lovesvintage_]

Beautiful pear picante27! Great way to set your stone.

The collage was awesome, sungura!

Acinom, I love the first setting more for your garnet. Maybe you can add some engraving too, or would that be overkill in your opinion.

 

[chrono]

Sungura,
Love your collage. It seems that your purples go with just about any other colour!

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

I am so loving this thread. These garnets have such fantastic color!

 

[Alnitak]

There are of course many varieties of "purple" garnets--garnets are sort of the "mutts" of the gem world and are virtually always some mix of the various six major species of garnet. That said, the majority of the purple garnets in this thread are from the newer find in Mozambique and these have been definitively analyzed and are classic "rhodolite garnets--a near equal mix of pyrope and almandine. Determining the exact composition of garnets is a complicated chemical analysis and cannot be determined in any way what so ever by a "microscopic analysis" as referred to in Yvonne's blog post.

So, to be very clear, these new purple garnets from Mozambique are rhodolites. They are exceptionally richly colored and tend to be very clean and show a nice color shift with varying lighting. They are a great example of why color is king--there are a lot of other rhodolites that are not nearly as beautiful as these garnets.

A year or so before these garnets showed up there was also another limited find of garnets, this time actually somewhere in Tanzania (although I believe the specific region given is not correct and the miners are keeping the true location secret). These garnets have been analyzed and shown to be pastel pyropes--a significantly more rare form of garnet. They show a fairly strong color change from purple-lavender to hot pink. These garnets are on average about 75% pyrope, 12% almandine, 10% spessartine and the remainder is composed of mixture of some of the rarer species of garnet like goldmanite and uvarovite. Trace amounts of chromium and vanadium contribute to the color and the color-change effect. Unfortunately the majority of these garnets are not quite as clean as the new Mozambique rhodolites although they typically cut eye-clean gems. User lilmosun posted a one of these newer garnets in a square cushion cut.

Of course, there are the classic purple garnets from India and Sri Lanka, although they are much less common in the market these days.

This is a great thread--I love seeing all of the gorgeous garnets especially since purple is my favorite color.

Jeff

 

[picante27]

It is so fascinating to find out more details about these garnets! Thank you for the insight Alnitak!

Thanks Sungura, Acinom, aac2013, arabella, apacherose, and lovesvintage for all the nice comments about the pear! I really love the proportions and the color. I am dying to see it in person and will be sure to post pics when it is set! Garnet is my birthstone, so this necklace will be my early birthday present

 

[Sungura]

Chrono and LisaRN. Thanks for stopping by. I had fun doing the colorful photo shoot. There seem to be many pairing possibilities for these Mozambique purple garnets with gems if similar saturation and avoiding gems with grey undertones. Seeing them IRL my personal favorites were tanzanite, peridot, and mint garnet. If I had a rubellite the same color as the pink flashes hat might be interesting

RSargent, Acinom and Picante27 I'm exciting about the setting possibilities you shared.

• rsargent to my eye those 7mm purple garnets are really large for side stones. I can't imagine you would have any Finger real estate left for a center. Some thoughts include dangly earrings including a complimentary gem, a haloed or three stone ring and use the other for a pendant. Lots of options and the great thing is that you can wear them now as studs

• Acinom. I love your inspiration rings. I love squares set as kites. And I think your cushion would look spectacular with those french cuts. So fun to start planning a new ring

• Picante27. I'm thrilled with your pendant design details. I'm so excited to see how the lotus inspired basket progresses and even more excited it will be a slider. No bail needed to distract from this stunner

 

[Sungura]

(excerpt) There are of course many varieties of "purple" garnets--garnets are sort of the "mutts" of the gem world and are virtually always some mix of the various six major species of garnet. That said, the majority of the purple garnets in this thread are from the newer find in Mozambique and these have been definitively analyzed and are classic "rhodolite garnets--a near equal mix of pyrope and almandine........

Alnitak thank you so much for joining the thread and helping us clear up this issue of the composition of this purple garnet "mutt". It is a truly informative post that I read several times. Color is indeed king with this gem. There will be lots more to see in this thread. We have at least 3 other PSers waiting on their rough to be cut and them of course there are all the gems to set.

 

[RSargent]

Thanks Sungura! Good advice. The ring would be unwieldy. Maybe I will keep them as studs. They are so well matched.
Ear drops are tempting though...

 

[lilmosun]

I was struggling with a stone to put in this setting (one of the inexpensive 18k ones from the retired jeweler) and inspired by all the beauties on this thread, I decided on another purple garnet from Yvonne



Coincidentally, I had this ring from Yvonne's store marked as a favorite on etsy forever but hesitated because it was in sterling (although priced accordingly). I absolutely love this combination (purple garnet with peacock blue spinels) even more seeing it in person.

It wasn't until I received it that I realized that the center stone had the same color/saturation of the Mozambique garnets. In speaking with Yvonne - she agreed and said it was likely the same -- an earlier lot before they became popular and more was known about these (same supplier). Nice surprise as I figured I was too late to the game to find a larger one in my budget.



Sorry for blurry sideways pictures...but its late and haven't had time to post much lately. I still need to figure out what I will do with my original neon ones purchased...thinking maybe earrings.

 

[picante27]

lilmosun, your rings are very pretty! I really like the blue spinel combined with the purple garnet

 

[Acinom]

Gorgeous rings Lilmosun
Beautiful play of colors.