Garnets

[yellowfan]

Hi Everyone,
I would appreciate help on a garnet. I would like to purchase a fine garnet for an upcoming birthday. I do not know much about them and would appreciate any advice on where to look for one and which type would be most valuable/best quality. I do prefer a red garnet. Thank you very much!


Lori

 

[strmrdr]

Id contact Gary @ dimaondexpert.com

www.diamondexpert.com

and/or

Wink Jones
www.winkjones.com

options:
Less quidence for the purchase than Gary or Wink but good places:
http://www.ajsgems.com
http://www.optimagem.com

 

[valeria101]

Red garnet...

remember when they pu down this and that kind of ruby saying "this is dark like garnet" ? Well, then red garnet is at it's best when large gems are intense red and not very dark. This happens more often with rhodolite garnet, but it matters littls the kind - color is key. Cut does allot to lighten the aparent color of the material and bring up some brilliance. Since the material is rather inexpensive, there is little excuse not to get the best cut out of garnet.

Here are three nicely RED ones: one red pair with strong saturation and one traditional oval
one hot purple-red

and one large purple piece

Two of these have traditional cutting, but with garnet, the sky is the limit to what you can expect for cut model - there is definitely enough garnet for this

 

[yowahking]

There is an Arizona red garnet called Chrome Pyrope. It is very rare over 5mm but very pretty. There are some highly collectable garnets like Demantoid, Tsavorite, (both green), color change garnets (best ones go from a blue/green to a rasberry in different lighting, and about every other color of the rainbow. Prices can be from $1 per ct for the more rootbeer colored redish stones, to $1500 for a nice 1ct Demantoid. My favorite are the colorchangers as you get something rare, and two or three stones in one. If you live where it is very sunny or very cloudy also has some effect on colors. Some colors are not available in all sizes and shapes. I am teaching a class to AZ jewelers on garnets in October.

 

[valeria101]

My dear computer died before I got to post the pic... There are a few interesting garnet pieces by Arthur Lee Anderson and Michael Dyber (GANA Link). It would be a pitty not to take a look

 

[Richard M.]

Hi Lori,

The reddest garnets available are the Arizona-Utah chrome-pyropes Scott mentioned. The color-causing agent (chrome) is the same as ruby. Careful cutting is required to show off the color because the tone is so dense, and they are usually at their best under 5 mm. in round brilliant-style cuts. Larger stones with different cuts tend to darken and frequently have visible inclusions.

There are no other truly red garnets. They're either brownish-red, orange-red, pinkish-red, red-violet (rhodolite) or purplish. Some almandines grade into a deep purple but the color is so saturated they turn very dark after cutting.

Most people prefer rhodolite, a mixture of the pyrope and almandine species that's ligher in tone than either "parent" separately. WARNING: the traditional rhodolite color (endorsed by the GIA) is a violet-ish color of the pyrope-almandine mixture. But sellers often use the rhodolite name for any reddish-toned garnet they happen to be selling no matter what the modifying color may be.

The finest colors of any garnet type are not at all abundant (or cheap), and cut can do very little to improve a dark-toned garnet in larger sizes. A cutter can deliberately create a 'window' to let more light through the stone but that decreases its brilliance and results in a "blah" stone.

The finest rhodolites come from North Carolina, USA; Tanzania and several other African countries, and Asia. The attached image is of one of my Asian Royal Rhodolites which exhibit some of the finest color in that variety.

Richard M.

 

[yellowfan]

Thank you all for your replies. I am hoping to find a garnet and have it set in a ring. I will start researching all the info you provided to find a nice garnet!


Thank you so much,


Lori


P.S. The photos were amazing!

 

[yellowfan]

I looked at some garnets at winkjones.com. What do you think of those? The orange garnet and the spessarite garnet. Which is better? I thought if I purchased an oval, I would set it with trillion sides. Opinions please.


Thanks,

Lori

 

[yowahking]

They can be one and the same or not. There is a variety called Hessonite from Mexico that is very orange, yet it's cousin from Sri Lanka is yellow Hessonite. The Spessartite also has several varieties and trade names. Tangerine garnet is one. Some African ones that hit the market hard about 6 years ago where super orange, that deposit is sort of played out. Many now are more rusty orange, not as valuable. I see some coming in with customers from TV shows that are poorly cut, included, dull, but only $20 for a 1 ct oval. Then with the lab report included show me the $400 appraised value. Even a nice one is not worth $40O in a one ct size. Goofy thing about color is that no one can claim best source or best price. I may have a stone that I can sell for $50 once and have to pay $150 for it the next time I find one. Other stones are cheaper now than they were 20 years ago.