Description

Garnets are group of silicate minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. The different species are pyrope, almandine, grossular (hessonite, tsavorite), spessartine, uvarovite and andradite. It is a dodecahedral crystal and comes in many colors: red, orange, yellow, green, purple, blue, brown, black, pink, and colorless. There are also color-changing varieties. In daylight they appear one color, but in incandescent light they look a reddish or purplish/pink color. Garnet is the January birthstone, the Connecticut state mineral and the state gemstone of New York. Star garnet is the state gemstone of Idaho.