Are Mali and Malaia garnets the same thing?

[RedSpinel]

From my 12 years of more diligent experience in gems, which includes lots of reading, watching Gem shows on tv, watching internet sales of gems and auctions, etc. Throughout that time, the Mali garnets and Malaia(Malaya) garnets have generally been represented as separate garnet species. Even if you look through pictures of each type and watch auctions involving them, you will normally see Mali garnets as yellow, golden yellow, greenish-yellow, some brownish specimens, etc. When you see Malaia garnets, what you usually see are pink, peach, peach pink, etc. Those 2 groups of examples are obviously very different from one another, which always seemed to validate the idea that they are 2 separate species, but then I read this long-ish article at the "International Gem Society"(IGS). Read the small print just under the Article title at the top of the page:

http://www.gemsociety.org/article/mali-garnet-jewelry-and-gemstone-information/

What the small print says is: "Mali Garnet (also known as “Malaya Garnet”)"

Ummm, huh? Even their own pictures at the top of the page look Malaia-ish, while their pictures at the bottom of the page look Mali-ish. The ones at the top have "Malaia" implied, while the ones at the bottom look very different.

 

[T L]

No, Mali's are a type of grossular/andradite garnet, and Malaya's are a pyrope/spessartite mix. Mali's tend to be greenish yellow, or golden yellow, and Malaya's are like an orangy red or peach color.

 

[VapidLapid]

It would appear that IGS was edited by an intern. Also quite surprising that as a source for their erroneous infor they credit Barbara Smigel of ACS, which is not remotely an up to date citation, and one that I imagine Barbara would disavow.

 

[minousbijoux]

It certainly seems like a simple editing error to me, as the balance of data in the article is correct - with the exception of Barbara Smigel's incorrect affiliation, as VL has already pointed out.

 

[chrono]

It would appear that IGS was edited by an intern. Also quite surprising that as a source for their erroneous infor they credit Barbara Smigel of ACS, which is not remotely an up to date citation, and one that I imagine Barbara would disavow.

+1.