Meet Garnet

This is garnet. Not what you were expecting, was it?

To be more accurate, this is one type of garnet. Blue garnet is one of the most recently discovered gemstones. It was discovered in the late 90s. Before its discovery, there was an old saying in our industry, "Garnet comes in every color except for blue." It was thought to be impossible for blue garnet to occur, but lo and behold, it exists.

Blue is the rarest color of garnet. In fact, it is so rare, most jewellers still don't know that it even exists, and cling to the "Garnet comes in every color except for blue" theory. Facts have proven those jewellers to be wrong. Blue garnet was discovered in Madagascar. Since its discovery, it has been found in other locations, including (And unsurprisingly), in Brazil, where just about every gemstone ever discovered can be excavated.

Due to its drastically low availability, you will likely never see a blue garnet in your lifetime, and especially not at any jewellery store. Gemstones of this rarity are always cut by the best lapidaries in the world, and are auctioned off to collectors for exorbitant amounts of money.

As you can see, this particular blue garnet does have some inclusions (Impurities or imperfections inside of the stone). That being said, it is still considered to be exceeding in quality. This is due to the fact that this gemstone is so rare, and the existence of a flawless specimen would be even rarer. This sentiment is carried over into other gemstones as well, such as emerald, for example, where a flawless stone is next to impossible to find.

Aside from being incredibly rare, blue garnet does have another feature. Just like alexandrite or zultanite (Again, 2 of some of the world's rarest gemstones), blue garnet is able to change color under certain lighting conditions. This phenomenon is known as a "color change stone," and the science behind it is not fully understood yet. Blue garnet changes from blue to purple. This color change is very similar that of Alexandrite, causing the 2 stones to be confused with each other often. Blue garnets, as rare as they are, are not as rare as the variants that don't change color.

There are a number of other rare garnets, though not as rare as blue. Tsavorite garnet is one such rarity, and displays a beautiful emerald green color. Uvarovite is another green color of garnet, but is rarer than tsavorite garnet. Other types of garnet include, but are not limited to: Almandine, spessartine, grossular, hessonite (AKA cinnamon stone), rhodolite, and pyrope.

Pyrope is the variant of garnet that most people are familiar with. This type is normally found in jewellery stores with a deep red appearance, however, it is available in black as well.

Garnet is one of the earliest gemstones used by ancient peoples. It can be found in the possession of almost every civilization in history. Garnet was often used in bead form, but was also utilized by the masters of inlay, the ancient Egyptians. Depending on the civilization, garnet was revered for its 'healing properties,' and as a form of goof luck charm, although modern day science has disproved these attributes. Garnet has even been used as a medium for stone carving. One of the most familiar types of stone carvings is that of Buddha. This historical figure has been idolized and captured in stone form for years, including in garnet form.

By Joseph Garabet

Levant Jewellery