Garnet stone has been known to people for a long time. Mystical and medicinal properties, and, of course, it was widely used in jewelry. It is one of the twenty most expensive stones in the world and is rightfully considered one of the most beautiful minerals.
History of the origin of the stone
Yours modern name The garnet stone was received in 1270. It was then that the famous alchemist Albert Magnus, describing this rare red mineral, gave it the name “granatus”. This word is related to the term “granules” and literally translated from Latin means “granular.”
Indeed, natural pomegranate occurs in nature in the form of small round granules. Moreover, the size of the unprocessed mineral does not exceed the grains of the tropical fruit of the same name.
In ancient times, each nation gave this gem its own name:
- “Chervets” or “lal” - in Rus'.
- “Bijazi” - in the Arab East (in Russia this word was gradually transformed into “bechet” and quickly took root among the people).
- The ancient Greeks called this gem anthrax, a burning coal.
- And the ancient Roman name, also translated as “coal” - “carbuncle” - was used until the 19th century.
Description of pomegranate
Garnet is one of the most worthy rivals. They are similar both in appearance and in their physical properties (although ruby is a harder mineral). Externally, garnet looks like a transparent or translucent stone with a glassy shiny, very smooth surface.
Garnet patronizes travelers, warriors, lovers, women expecting a child, and people in difficult life situations.
Colors and varieties
Most often, when talking about garnet, we mean classic dark red or, in extreme cases, pink color this mineral. However, these are far from the only varieties. The color of garnet stone can vary from scarlet to yellow, green and even transparent.
Pyrope
The most common red garnet. Its name comes from the Greek word “pyropos” - like fire. Magnesium and aluminum salts give the stone its peculiar shade.
Almandine
A mineral characterized by a high content of potassium and magnesium. Depending on their concentration, the color can vary from deep red to brown, purple and pink. It is to this variety that the “Bohemian” or “Czech” garnet belongs - a very expensive, almost transparent gem of a light pink hue.
In Rus', brought from the Arab East, it was called “Syrian pomegranate”.
Grossular
Allumocalcium silicate, the color of which is given by iron ore salts. The very name of this stone comes from the Latin name for gooseberry, which speaks better than any words about the appearance of grossular: small round stones shine in all shades of green and yellow.
Grossular can be:
- light herbaceous;
- orange-yellow;
- dark brown;
- transparent;
- and even an extremely rare sea green color (in mineralogy it bears the name hydrogrossular);
Uvarovite
An extremely rare emerald green garnet found in only a few deposits in the world. It was first discovered in the Urals, in the Saranovsky mine, in 1832 and named after the Russian academician and minister of education, Sergei Uvarov. This stone is often called the “Ural emerald.”
This mineral received its name in honor of its discoverer, Jose d’Andrada. In nature, this type of pomegranate has different shades - from yellow and greenish-marsh, to brown and even red. The most popular varieties of andradite are:
Melanitis
An incredibly rare black garnet, characterized by an opaque, matte structure. In fact, this color is a dull dark red, but due to the lack of shine, the stone absorbs almost the entire spectrum of the sun's color, which is why it appears charcoal dark.
Shorlomit
Another type of black garnet, rich in iron salts, thanks to which the edges of the stone have a bright shine with a metallic tint.
Demantoid
An extremely rare transparent gem, distinguished by its light green color. Its name means, literally translated, “like a diamond,” although in appearance it rather resembles. This mineral is often found in the decoration of Russian palaces of the 18th – 19th centuries.
Spessartine
For the first time, this stone began to be mined in the town of Spessarty, in Germany - this is where the official name of this garnet variety came from. The main colors are yellow, brown, and pink, although there are also examples of a red tint.
Hessonite
Or in other words “essonite”, “cinnamon stone” - garnet of all shades of brown. The most common shades found in nature are yellow, honey, orange, and purple. Occasionally, cinnamon-colored hessonites are found. This is one of the least hard types of pomegranate. Actually, the word “hesson” itself means “weak”, “lesser” in Latin.
Rhodolite
Some mineralologists classify it as a separate group, but in fact it is a hybrid of almandine and pyrope. The high iron content also determines the colors found in this mineral: red and pink in any shade.
Leucogranate
This is the general name for all minerals of this group, distinguished by their transparent color.
Chemical composition and physical properties
Garnets are silicates with a high content of magnesium, calcium and iron. Depending on the chemical composition, their individual types are classified as both precious and semi-precious, ornamental stones. The general formula of all these minerals looks like this: Mg+Fe+Mn+ +Ca+3Al23.
At the same time, each subspecies of pomegranate has its own chemical composition. It is the concentration of certain elements that determine the shades of garnet, density and shine.
Despite the number of varieties of stone, its properties in all “varieties” remain approximately the same.
Garnet molecules have a cubic lattice and form either rhombododecahedrons (closed compounds of 12 faces) or tetrahoptrioctahedra (24 faces).
Scientists divide all pomegranates into two main subspecies:
- Pyralspite, which is dominated by iron, magnesium and manganese; form a 12-sided crystal lattice; This is exactly the structure of pyrope, spessarine and almadine.
- Ugrandites, with a high calcium content (as in grossulars and andradites). The molecules of these gems are formed into tetrahoptrioctahedra.
The hardness of these gemstones ranges on a ten-point Mohs scale from 6.5 points (like hessonite) to 7.5 points (like almandine). Garnet can be easily polished with diamond, but if you run it across glass, it leaves a shallow scratch.
At the same time, it is quite fragile and easily breaks under a strong impact. So processing it is not such a simple matter.
The density of this mineral is low: on average from 3700 to 3930 kg per cubic meter.
The surface of the garnet is smooth to the touch, glassy. But the edges of the break, on the contrary, are uneven and rough.
In nature, this gem is found in medium-sized druses. These stones are not large. The largest garnet, a fire pyrope the size of a pigeon's egg, was discovered in Germany and weighed 633 carats.
Place of Birth
Garnets are mined all over the world. Their deposits are found on almost all continents, with the exception of Antarctica. Pomegranates are found in Russia, the USA, Germany, Mexico, Australia, Zambia, Brazil, India, Sri Lanka and some other countries.
In Russia, the largest deposits are located in Yakutia (very rare fiery red pyropes are mined there), on the Kola Peninsula, Chukotka and the Urals. It is the Ural mines that supply jewelers with a significant portion of green uvarovite.
In the USA, on the border of the states of Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona, one of the most amazing types of this gem is mined: “Ant”, or “Arizona” garnet.
These tiny stones, no more than one and a half carats, are brought to the surface by ants when building their “palaces”. The surprising thing is that, despite all the efforts, it was not possible to detect these bright red granules using the mine method.
Who is suitable according to their zodiac sign?
Although magical properties This stone is universal in many ways, astrologers advise people, before buying jewelry with garnet, to check whether their patron constellation is combined with the magical properties of the “fire” stone.
For those who decide to purchase a garnet stone, their zodiac sign is very important:
- : Pyrope and other varieties of red garnets are strictly contraindicated for people born during this period. But hessonite, grossular and uvarovite will give their owner success in matters of the heart, help to remain faithful in separation and strengthen the sense of trust in their “soul mate”.
- For Pisces This stone is an excellent remedy that helps normalize blood pressure and avoid infections. True, they also cannot carry red grenades.
- Aries: Pomegranate is useful for them as a means to cope with temper and avoid quarrels. It also helps in the fight against various phobias.
- Taurus You should not buy garnet jewelry.
- Gemini you need to be careful with this stone: it not only gives self-confidence, but also gives rise to passions that are not easy for the ardent nature of Gemini to fight.
- Cancer. For them, pomegranates are contraindicated, with the only exceptions being green varieties.
- For Lviv products made from pomegranate are useless, although not dangerous.
- Virgos this gemstone will help you find harmony and find your path in life.
- Scales: They sometimes need pomegranate as a way to calm their nerves and subdue their impulses.
- Scorpios this gem will help you moderate your ambitions, achieve peace of mind, and help you reach agreement in friendship. At the same time, garnet will help this sign develop their leadership abilities.
- Sagittarius They will feel a surge of strength from this gem - both mental and physical.
- Capricorns: pomegranate will help them gain self-confidence, give them strength and insight to make the right decision.
Who are the names suitable for?
It is extremely important to determine in advance, when buying a garnet stone, who this type of jewelry is suitable for and who is not. The element of garnets is fire (especially for pyropes and almandines), as well as earth and water. This stone also has patron planets: the Moon, Jupiter, Venus, Mars and the Sun.
Pomegranate is an excellent life talisman for people with the names:
- Alexandra (only for women - for Alexander men this mineral will be useless);
- Alla;
- Anton;
- Valeria;
- Basil
- Galina;
- Lyudmila;
- Maria;
- Nikita;
- and Tamara;
Magic properties
Few stones have as many mystical secrets as the garnet stone - magical properties have been attributed to it since ancient times, and even now many psychics use this mineral in their practices.
Pomegranate has long been considered a symbol of a strong spirit, a pure heart and high spiritual qualities. Therefore, gemologists advise people with weak character to carry garnet with them, so that this mineral will help them develop a strong inner core.
Since ancient times, this mineral personified love and other heartfelt feelings.
According to the medieval “language of stones,” the gift of a garnet item meant passionate (perhaps even unrequited) love. It was considered undesirable to wear garnet jewelry in the presence of children or teenagers, since this gem can awaken passions in a person.
At the same time, he was revered as a symbol marital fidelity. It was believed that pomegranate gives success in love and helps preserve feelings in separation. It was often given to newlyweds as a wedding gift, and to families whose marriage is in danger of destruction, this stone is very useful.
The benefits of green varieties are especially great. Their energy helps strengthen family ties, and for a woman, in addition, serves as an assistant in “women’s concerns.”
The magic of these stones is also associated with the gift of clairvoyance. It is believed that if a pomegranate is dreamed of at night, then soon this person will have to resolve a serious problem or make a difficult choice.
Medicinal properties
The beneficial properties of pomegranate have been known to healers since ancient times.
In lithotherapy, this mineral is used for many diseases:
- inflammation;
- diseases of the respiratory system;
- skin diseases;
- allergies;
- metabolic disorders and endocrine diseases;
- and many other problems.
Legend has it that a garnet set in gold can even get rid of migraines (which modern medicine still cannot cope with).
Garnet stone is extremely useful for pregnant women: it is believed that it makes pregnancy more calm and guarantees an easy birth. In ancient times, jewelry was often made from this gem specifically for pregnant women.
Talismans and amulets
Since ancient times, people have used amulets made from this gem. For example, every traveler tried to take a garnet ring or pendant on the road.
The pomegranate is considered an amulet that can both preserve and win the love of another person. Scandinavian legend says that the miniature Ogren, having fallen in love with Freya, the goddess of love, forged a beautiful necklace in order to achieve her favor.
Another property attributed to pomegranate is especially important for men. It symbolizes masculinity, fortitude, and courage.
Many warriors wore jewelry made from this mineral, as it was considered a strong amulet that protected against wounds and death in battle. They inlaid weapons, armor, and helmets. And during the Crusades, almost every knight had a ring with a garnet, designed to protect it in battle.
Products made from garnet have very strong energy, because of this you should not wear it continuously, you should remove it from time to time and let it “rest”.
Decorations
Garnet is a stone whose jewelry has always been very popular. In the Middle Ages, beads, earrings or a pendant made of this mineral were sure to be in the box of any woman from a noble class.
Usually this gem is set in gold. However, it also looks good with silver; this combination is especially often used for low-quality garnets. After all, according to jewelry traditions, it is not customary to insert a semiprecious stone into gold jewelry.
Other uses of stone
Garnets were often present in the ceremonial clothes of courtiers, in the outfits of noble people, and even in the decoration of palaces. For example, the Chamber of Facets in the Kremlin is entirely inlaid with this very mineral. The famous jeweler Faberge was very fond of this mineral: many of his boxes and precious toys were made using garnet fragments.
These gemstones are widely used in various industries. Thus, garnet is an excellent ferromagnet, which is why it is used in electronics. It is also added to some building mixtures. Parts of optical systems and lasers can be made from this mineral (as well as from ruby).
Price
Garnet, despite its beauty, is not a very expensive stone.
The price of garnet stones depends on the quality and size and, of course, on the rarity of the color:
- Amaldine can be bought for 1900 rubles per 1 carat.
- Rhodolite – 1700 rubles.
- The cost of pyrope starts from 1170 rubles.
- Spessartine is considered one of the most expensive garnets. For example, a specimen weighing 4.7 carats is estimated at 35 thousand rubles.
But the price of a technical quality garnet stone starts from a few dollars per carat - for example, Nigerian stones for industry can be bought for 150-600 rubles per carat.
Many jewelry and handmade websites provide summary tables that indicate the price (in rubles and dollars) for different types grenade. So, earrings with a garnet stone in a gold frame can be bought starting from 7,000 rubles.
Care
Garnets are capricious minerals. They need to be stored in a dark, fairly cool (but not cold!) place. Each stone must be placed separately or wrapped in a piece of cloth. Separate boxes are required for jewelry made from these gems.
You can clean a garnet jewel with a soft brush. To do this, you need to fill the stones with water for a while, and then carefully wash them with soapy water.
There are several ways to identify a real garnet:
- Take the stone to a jewelry store and ask for expert advice.
- You can distinguish a garnet from a fake by rubbing it with a woolen cloth. Natural stone quickly becomes electrified - you can check this by passing it past fluff or your own hair.
- Garnet has minor magnetic properties. You can check this using small metal shavings.
- Another way to check the authenticity is to swipe it on the glass. Natural stone should leave a thin scratch on the glass.
Artificial pomegranate
Natural garnet is not such a rare mineral. However, modern scientists are making many attempts to “grow” these stones into artificial conditions. This is how synthetic silicate was created -. It was raised in the USSR in 1968 for the needs of nuclear energy.
This gem is distinguished by a variety of colors that natural garnets cannot boast of: for example, cubic zirconia is known for its incredible lavender hue - but in nature Blue colour impossible for these minerals.
- Red garnets - pyrope - are mentioned in Kuprin’s story “Garnet Bracelet”, where this decoration symbolizes unrequited, but sincere and pure love.
- According to legend, a fire grenade was installed on the nose of Noah's Ark, lighting the way for the surviving people.
Photo
Photo by Mouser Williams
Garnet, an undeservedly forgotten gem in modern jewelry, is one of the semi-precious jewelry and ornamental stones. This stone received its name due to its shape, reminiscent of garnet seeds and the bright color of the crystals. In nature, this gem is found in a stunning variety of colors and shades. They come in blood red, brownish black, pink red, orange red, red lilac, honey orange and even grass green. Due to the variety of colors, composition of crystals and their varieties, garnet is often counterfeited. This is not surprising, because a high-quality garnet crystal can be equal in cost to a diamond.
To distinguish a garnet from a fake, let’s first consider the properties of this stone. Garnet is a crystalline mineral that forms in kimberlite rocks with high concentrations of pyrope. Garnets are a whole group of minerals that are similar in the structure of the crystalline network and the shape of the crystals. This mineral received its name due to the similarity of the crystals to pomegranate seeds, although there are specimens similar to gooseberries and even chicken egg(however, these are unique and they are rare in nature).
Photo by Tjflex2
Garnet crystals can be either homogeneous or interspersed with extraordinary beauty. Garnets have a luster close to diamond, strong refraction, high hardness and color density. In jewelry, clean garnets without “flaws” are more valued. In terms of their chemical composition, the minerals of the garnet group consist of silicates of manganese, calcium, chromium, iron, magnesium with or without inclusions of other minerals.
This inexpensive, but beautiful, bright stone is counterfeited quite often. How to distinguish a real pomegranate from a fake?
Fake garnets are most often made from glass, transparent plastic, or stones of lesser value (less commonly). These materials have properties different from real garnet.
First of all, you need to pay attention to the size. A standard pomegranate is the size of a pomegranate seed, a processed one is even smaller. If the item contains larger garnets and green garnets, it is most likely a fake. Such stones are a mineralogical rarity and are kept in museums. Jewelry with such stones is exclusive and incredibly expensive.
Photo by Macroscopic Solutions
Garnet is a very hard mineral and leaves scratches on plastic and glass. If you run a pomegranate across the glass, it will leave a scratch. If there is no scratch, this is a glass fake. If the defect remains on the “gem,” then you have plastic or a soft stone that is not suitable for jewelry.
Garnet, as a natural mineral, does not have a uniform color. Even expensive jewelry samples have small inclusions and differences in color. Real garnet has different color intensities and can contain several shades. A real garnet has strong light refraction, so the stone transmits light unevenly or refracts it along its edges; a bizarre play of light is formed inside the real stone. Fake grenades have a uniform color, monochromatic and refracts light depending on the number of edges, without creating a “game” of the beam.
Garnet is a mineral, so it heats up more slowly than glass or plastic. If after a couple of minutes the pomegranate remains cool in your hand, this is a real mineral.
Garnet has the property of magnetization. If you hold a pomegranate on a magnet, then put it on a scale and move the magnet over it, its weight will decrease. For the purity of the experiment, it is worth putting a magneto-insulating material under the stone - cork or plastic, because scales are often made of steel, which is attracted by a magnet.
The methods described above will allow you to determine whether the pomegranate is in front of you or a fake. However, only gemological examination provides a 100% guarantee, because some fakes are of very high quality.
Is garnet a precious or semi-precious stone? Jewelry store sellers often hear this question from potential buyers. This mineral actually resembles pomegranate seeds, from which it gets its name. Its old Russian name is “lal”. This is what our ancestors called pomegranate in ancient legends and epics. Although rubies and spinels, that is, any transparent red stones, were often called lalas.
Pomegranate cannot help but delight and attract the eye. Dark red transparent garnet crystals attract attention to any jewelry made from it. Is garnet a real gemstone?
To find the answer to this question, it is worth understanding what types of stones are, how they are classified, and which of them can be considered precious.
Classification of stones
Garnets are mainly used for making jewelry. Jewelers divide all natural minerals into three main categories:
- precious;
- semi-precious;
- ornamental.
This division is conditional, since there is no generally accepted classification enshrined in law. However there is the federal law No. 1 dated March 26, 1998, which clearly states which stones can be considered precious. This natural diamonds, natural pearls, alexandrites, rubies, emeralds, and sapphires.
It is believed that a gemstone should, in addition to being beautiful appearance, which is given to it by processing and cutting, must be rare. All of the above stones are expensive, so they can become a means of saving and investing money. The weight unit of this type of natural minerals is carat (0.2 g)
As you can understand, garnet is not one of them. Ornamental minerals are also used in jewelry production. They are used to make decorative and interior items. Using the cutting method, dishes, ashtrays, candlesticks and larger products (architectural decorations of facades and columns, furniture elements, etc.) are made from ornamental stones. Ornamental stones include chalcedony, carnelian, malachite, agate, onyx and jasper.
Ornamental varieties of pomegranate, as a rule, are little or completely opaque, but have beautiful natural shades and a unique pattern. They are inferior in hardness not only to precious, but also to semi-precious stones.
Based on the fact that garnet cannot be called an ornamental stone, it can be classified as an intermediate group, that is, semi-precious jewelry and ornamental stones. In addition to garnet, peridot, turquoise, topaz, amethyst, beryl, amber, rock crystal, etc. are considered semi-precious.
These are, as a rule, transparent stones that lend themselves well to cutting. But among more than 30 types of garnets, there are also stones that do not have a transparent structure.
Semi-precious and ornamental stones, including garnet, are measured in grams. Hardness is 6.5-7.5 units on the Mohs scale used by jewelers.
Varieties of pomegranate
The natural forms of pomegranate are striking in their diversity. It’s not often that you see a stone found in nature not only in the form of the usual rhombuses, triangles or trapezoids. There are crystals of a very complex structure with 38, 48 and even 72 faces. The most popular types of garnet among jewelers are scarlet pyrope and almandine, distinguished by their bright red, seemingly radiant color.
Moreover, pyropes were most valued in ancient times. They were mined mainly in the Czech Republic and were an indicator of refined taste and prosperity for the nobility. Nowadays, pyropes are very rare and cannot cost less than $200 per carat. The market is filled with synthetically created stones.
Nowadays, thanks to the large number of explored deposits, the primacy has gone to almandines. These are quite large stones. And their price is quite affordable.
Quite rare, and therefore expensive and most valuable are demantoids and tsavorites. Only a specialist can distinguish the shine of their facets from the shine of emeralds. But their sizes are small. The largest stones weigh only 0.4 g (2 carats). Demantoids can have unique shades: pistachio, olive, soft green.
These stones, which have high levels of purity and transparency, are not precious, but can nevertheless be measured in carats and be quite expensive.
The most expensive and rare type of garnet is majorite, a transparent stone with a radiant purple hue.
This king of garnets can originate either from the impact of a meteorite, or from the pressure present at a depth of at least 400 m. Majorites are found very rarely. They were last discovered in France in 2004, cut and sold for $2,400 per carat. And the most expensive cut majorite weighs almost 4 carats. Its cost is estimated at more than $8 million. How can we call this variety of garnet a semi-precious stone?
However, if a person can explore Mars or at least the Moon, majorite will cease to be an expensive curiosity, since the conditions there are conducive to the formation of this type of mineral (majorite, in particular).
Among the stones most used by jewelers and master carvers are:
- pink rhodoliths;
- greenish urovites;
- orange-brown hessonites;
- light green grossoirs;
- black melanitis;
- multi-colored spessartines, which can be yellowish or pinkish-red.
How to distinguish a real stone from a fake?
The answer to the question of whether a garnet is precious or just a semi-precious stone does not affect the number of fakes that flood the market these days. Pomegranate is faked and grown artificially. How can you protect yourself from purchasing a counterfeit when purchasing?
A specialist will be able to do this based on a number of indicators:
- appearance of the crystal;
- shine;
- transparency indicators;
- hardness;
- density;
- the nature of the fracture;
- lack of cleavage;
- specific gravity;
- refractive index.
It is much more difficult for an ordinary person to distinguish a fake from a real stone. You can use a method known since ancient times. It has been noted that garnets have high pyroelectric properties. That is, if you rub the stone well (before heating), it will begin to attract small debris: fluff and bird feathers, straws, dust.
Features of the stone:
- Natural garnet can scratch glass.
- It does not have a homogeneous structure and may have microdefects, uneven color and transparency.
- Too large stones are most likely synthetically grown, rather than natural garnets.
Natural garnet is a whole family of minerals whose common Chemical properties can be clearly shown by the formula R2+3 R3+2 3. Depending on the elements in place of the values of R2 (magnesium, calcium, iron or manganese) and R3 (chromium, aluminum, iron), the color and hardness of the crystal will be different. Garnets are hard stones and have a Mohs hardness of 6.5 to 7.5.
In nature, this semi-precious mineral is found in all colors of the rainbow except blue. Pink, yellow, green, red - these are not all shades of pomegranate. Purple garnet is less common, but the most popular and widespread is the red gem. The rarest and most expensive is the green garnet.
Descriptions of pomegranate are already found in ancient scrolls and papyri. The precious mineral was already known to the ancient Romans, Egyptians and Persians. The stone was used not only as jewelry, they also inlaid dishes made of silver and gold, belts, sword hilts and warriors’ shields. The garnet crystal was considered the stone of Mars, the god of war, but owes its name to its resemblance to the seeds of the pomegranate tree.
Garnet crystals occur in igneous rocks - schists and gneisses. In the case of crystalline slate, garnet (and in this particular case, almandine) is the rock-forming mineral. Its companions are often micas, chlorite and disthene. In this case, the origin of the mineral is metamorphic.
The second option for the formation of these semi-precious gems is the contact process, otherwise called skarn. For the formation of such types of minerals as grossular and andradite, contact of the rock with limestone rocks, rhodolites, eclagites, etc. is necessary.
In skarns, garnet is accompanied by sulfites of iron, copper and lead, as well as salite, vesuvian, scheelite, etc. Garnets are often part of igneous rocks, such as peridotites and kimberlites, granite, and appear on the surface due to the activity of volcanoes.
Natural garnet is a very resistant material, therefore, when the rock weathers, this gem is not subject to destruction, but turns into placer.
Garnet deposits
Precious garnet is mined all over the world, and descriptions of deposits have been known since ancient times. In Europe these are the Czech Republic, Finland and Norway. In North America, the mineral is mined in Canada and the USA, and in South America - in Brazil. In Asia, the main producers of pomegranate are India and Sri Lanka, and in Africa - South Africa and Madagascar.
This gem is also mined in Russia - in the Ural Mountains. Russian garnets have a beautiful green color and are highly valued. Some stones can cost up to $20,000.
The rarest and most mysterious type of pomegranate is “ant blood”. This precious blood-red mineral appears in the form of droplets on the site of giant anthills after rains. This periodically happens in the USA on the Navajo Indian reservations, and its description is found in ancient legends.
Precious and semi-precious stones have always been the object of close attention of people. They were admired, admired, endowed with special properties, and wanted to be owned.
Natural jewelry has always been valued and expensive, so there were scammers who tried to fake them, sometimes quite successfully. The quality of the fake reached such a level that it was quite difficult to distinguish a garnet stone from a real one without the help of a specialist. Our expert told us how to distinguish a fake.
What does a real mineral look like?
Garnet is a brightly colored gem found in nature. large quantities shades are mainly red, although grassy green specimens are also found. Mineral has a brilliance comparable to that of a diamond and can approach it in value. Most often, glass or plastic is used for counterfeiting, sometimes from cheaper copies.
When choosing this gem, first of all, you need to pay attention to its size. Despite the fact that large ones are also found in nature, they are not used in jewelry; they are more of a museum exhibit, so it is better to avoid products with large minerals.
Check with a magnet
One of the surest ways to check can be done using a regular magnet. Artificial garnet is not magnetized. This check can be carried out using electronic scales and a magnet; after magnetization, the weight of the natural mineral decreases.
In addition, the natural gem has a hardness almost 2 times greater than the hardness of glass, so it can easily scratch any glass surface.
Sometimes the mineral is confused with other stones, so it is worth remembering that it is very similar to fruit grains, may have an uneven color, and its shine is not always bright.
Only flawless stones are used in jewelry making, so please consider the item carefully before purchasing it. This is another way to distinguish a garnet from a fake.
With love, Editorial Board YavMode.ru
