Demantoid Garnet: Hunt for the Horsetail

Flashier than an asteroid, and certainly more enjoyable than a hemorrhoid, demantoid garnet is an incredibly beautiful gemstone. The demantoid garnet displays more flash and fire than other members of the garnet family. Its beautiful presence was interrupted by World War I, but demantoid garnet is back…yet, something is missing.

Garnet is the birthstone for the month of January. Garnet gemstones have been found in a variety of colors, such as red, green, purple, yellow, and brown. There are three kinds of green garnets: tsavorite garnet, uvarovite garnet, and demantoid garnet. Tsavorite garnet has the vivid green beauty that rivals, and at times is superior to, an emerald. Uvarovite garnet is not used in jewelry. Demantoid garnet ranges from yellow/green to brown/green and exhibits a glow. Demantoid is Dutch for “diamond-like” and the demantoid garnet does not disappoint as it is highly refractive, at times flashing colors more impressively than the flashes provided by diamonds.

Demantoid garnet was discovered during the mid-1800s in Russia’s Ural Mountains. The beautiful fire and brilliance of this gemstone made it a stone that quickly became a favorite of Russia’s elite. Then, World War I began, and only few Russian demantoid garnets were found after the conflict.

In 1996, Namibia, in Southern Africa, began producing demantoid garnet that ranged in color from light green to bluish green. Demantoid garnet has also been found in Korea, Congo, Iran, Italy, and Mexico. While these places have produced some demantoid garnet, the gemstone is still very rare. Most demantoid garnet is one carat or less, with large sizes being extremely hard to find. The cost of demantoid garnet can be thousands of dollars per carat in some of the finer stones. Demantoid garnet is the softest of all of the garnets at 6.5 to 7.0 on the Mohs scale, yet it commands a high price—even higher than that of tsavorite garnet.

There is a big distinction from the original Russian demantoid garnet and some that has been found more recently—a brown crystal inclusion, known as a horsetail, that emanates outward from the stone’s center. The horsetail is the feature that sets Russian demantoid garnet apart from the others. A demantoid garnet with a horsetail inclusion will have a much higher price. If you possess any Victorian jewelry that contains small, sparkly green gemstones, look for the brown crystal horsetail inclusion—your jewelry piece could be worth a small fortune. To care for jewelry that contains demantoid garnet, use warm water with mild soap and avoid acids or excessive heat. Amber is a gemstone that also contains inclusions, and you'd be surprised what you can find.

The sensational, glowing dazzle of the demantoid garnet should attract anyone’s gaze. Keen eyesight is all that is needed as you hunt for the horsetail…leave your guns, knives, or bows and arrows at home.

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