Garnet Group

Encompassing more than twenty silicate minerals that share a crystal structure but differ in chemistry, the garnet group produces an exceptional spectrum of colors, from red, orange, yellow, and green to purple, pink, colorless, and rare color-change varieties. Major gem species include pyrope, almandine, spessartine, grossular, andradite, and uvarovite, drawn from metamorphic and igneous rocks on every continent, including Sri Lanka. The group crystallizes in the isometric system and measures 6.5 to 7.5 on the Mohs scale. Among the most historically important gems, moderately priced and semi-precious as a family, garnets were traded and worn in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, and garnet is the birthstone for January.