Garnet: A Spectrum of Splendor
The garnet family of gemstones has six different species and a variety of colors. Garnet is both a modern and a traditional birthstone for those individuals who were born in the month of June. If you are looking for a popular gemstone, garnet is definitely a gem with which you will be happy.
Garnet is a fairly durable gemstone. It rates between 7.0 and 7.5 on the Mohs scale of hardness, which makes it a wonderful gemstone that can be worn for most occasions. The different varieties of garnet provide a nice assortment of colors.
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One species of garnet is pyrope. Pyrope is generally deep red to black in color. Almandine, otherwise known as almandite, is a type of garnet that is reddish purple with shades of brown and black. Spessartine, also known as spessartite, is a garnet variety that provides colors consisting of orange or yellowish red. The fourth species of garnet is grossular garnet. Grossular garnet consists of hessonite (orange, orange/brown, reddish in color) and tsavorite (rich green color that rivals the color of fine emeralds). Uvarovite is a variety of garnet that is rare, bright green in color, and usually very small in size. Finally, andradite is a species of garnet that consists of demantoid garnet (green), melanite (black), and topazolite (yellow or green).
With a spectrum of colors to choose from, the garnet family of gemstones has many admirers.
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