What was Garnet used for?
Garnet is usually thought of as a gemstone but most garnet is mined for industrial uses. A very small number of garnets are pure and flawless enough to be cut as gemstones. The majority of garnet mining is for massive garnet that is crushed and used to make abrasives.
Is Garnet used in Jewellery?
True, it is extremely common and turns up in everything from ancient gold rings to cheap, modern, mass-produced bijouterie — but this misses the point, which is that the sheer beauty and versatility of garnet meant that right up to the beginning of the 20th century it was consistently one of the most popular of all …
Is Garnet used to make glass?
Glass Polishing Garnets are used as abrasives in the fine grinding of glass to produce very smooth surfaces. The glass polishing application is expanded to include scratch free lapping of semiconductor materials such as silica for the production of computer microprocessors.
How many types of garnet are there?
Gemology recognizes six common species of garnet based on their different chemical composition. They are pyrope, almandine, spessartite, grossularite, uvarovite and andradite.
What are the names of garnet?
Types of Garnets The term garnet refers to a group of closely related minerals that includes over twenty species, and then even more varieties within those species. The five main species of gem-quality garnets are pyrope, almandine, grossular, andradite, and spessartine.
What is the best type of garnet?
Vivid red garnets are the most desirable. See this pendant here. Garnets that are vivid red in color are more valuable than others, with a few exceptions such as the brilliant green varieties. Look for a vivid spectral red for the best types of garnets.
What is the most common type of garnet?
The 5 Types of Garnets
- Almandine is the most common type of garnet and can be found in various shades of red and brown.
- Pyrope is rarer, more transparent, and contains less flaws compared to almandine.
- Andradite is one of the rarest and most sought after type of garnet.
Where are the best garnets found?
Where is Garnet Found?
- India – Red garnets can be found in Orissa, India.
- Myanmar – Rare and beautiful reddish orange spessartine garnets can be found in Myanmar.
- Russia – Russia is the original source of demantoid garnets, the rare deep green variety of the gemstone.
Do garnets sparkle?
The quality of the cut can make a big difference in beauty and brilliance. Your garnet should sparkle in a lively way, reflecting light back evenly across the entire gem. Poorly cut gems are much less marketable and sell at a discount.
What rock is garnet found in?
metamorphic rocks
What do garnets look like?
Garnets come in a variety of colors and have many different varieties. However, the most widely-known color of Garnet gemstones is dark red. When the term “Garnet” is used, it is usually connotative of the dark red form; other color Garnets are usually given more descriptive gemstone terms.