Would the other types of garnets sparkle like my tsavorite?

[beaujolais]

I just had a tsavorite set in a bezel pendant. It sparkles like a diamond does.

I''d describe the cut as pretty good but no big deal.

Do the other garnets do this, also?

 

[Fly Girl]

Most of my garnets don''t do that. I''ve had garnet studs for years, and they don''t sparkle like diamonds at all. But my umbalite ring, now, that sparkles better than my diamond in certain lights. Of course, it helps that it''s much bigger!

 

[T L]

Demantoids and spessartites sparkle quite a bit. Demantoids in round brilliant cuts often look like green diamonds to the unexpert eye.

 

[Harriet]

Demantoids, Spessartites, and Uvavorites have higher RIs than Tsavorites.

 

[beaujolais]

Thanks all.

How about rhodolite? Malaya?

 

[T L]

I think Malaya''s sparkle alot. I think many members of the garnet family sparkle quite a bit. My only problem with some garnets, and why they might not sparkle is that the darker varieties are highly prone to extinction. They''re just too dark to sparkle. However, of the entire garnet family, I believe demantoids (and the garnet variety they belong to - I forget) have the highest RI.

 

[beaujolais]

Thanks Tourmaline.

Demantoid is too expensive. Sigh.

 

[Harriet]

Date: 10/17/2008 9:24:10 PM
Author: tourmaline_lover
I think Malaya''s sparkle alot. I think many members of the garnet family sparkle quite a bit. My only problem with some garnets, and why they might not sparkle is that the darker varieties are highly prone to extinction. They''re just too dark to sparkle. However, of the entire garnet family, I believe demantoids (and the garnet variety they belong to - I forget) have the highest RI.

Andradite.

 

[colormyworld]

Tsavorite is the trade name for a green grossularite garnet having a tone and saturation over an arbitary value. Don''t ask me to define that value but I know it when I see it. Being a grossularite it has an RI of 1.740. I am pretty sure all the other garnets have a higher RI.

I think the biggest factor in garnets being "lifeless" is a dark tone. O f course cutting plays a part also.

 

[Harriet]

CMW, are you dissing my medium-dark Tsavorite?

 

[ma re]

One thing about spessartites - from what I noticed, eventhough they have a high R. I., they don''t sparkle and scintillate as much as one would expect, most often due to color being too saturated i.e. too vibrantly orange (like a piece of lava). Clarity also plays a role as many spessartites are quite included.

 

[T L]

Really? My 4 carat spessartite sparkles like crazy, but I also think it depends on how bright orange it is. The darker ones may not sparkles as much. Cut does have a lot to do with it as well, so I totally agree there.

 

[T L]

Date: 10/17/2008 9:30:11 PM
Author: sonomacounty
Thanks Tourmaline.

Demantoid is too expensive. Sigh.

Not the African stones, and I''ve seen some stones out of the Middleeast that are lower in price as well. If you want a fine chrome green Russian demantoid over 1/2 carat, then well, that''s a bit out of most mortal''s budgets!! Demantoid tends to generally run higher in price however than some other varieties of garnet, like pyrope.

 

[movie zombie]

Date: 10/18/2008 3:02:37 AM
Author: ma re
One thing about spessartites - from what I noticed, eventhough they have a high R. I., they don''t sparkle and scintillate as much as one would expect, most often due to color being too saturated i.e. too vibrantly orange (like a piece of lava). Clarity also plays a role as many spessartites are quite included.

cut will effect it also.

a high quality spess is not over saturated, is well cut, not included, and sparkles like crazy. most spess on the market while lovely does not meet the criteria for high quality.

mali garnet also has that sparkle effect. personally, i prefer a well cut mali to a well cut tsav but that''s simply a matter of taste.

the lovely thing about garnet is the variety of colors. however, the difference between a fine garnet and most market garnet is very very huge.

movie zombie

 

[T L]

Namibian demantoid cushion around a carat. For the life of me, I cannot get a good shot of this stone with my pitiful camera. It's prettier in real life. This gives you an idea of some of the way light is used by this stone though. There's alot of blue flashes coming out of this stone, and that's rare in the garnet world.