Garnets have been widely known for thousands of years. Although the color red occurs most frequently, there are also garnets showing different shades of green, pale to bright yellow, fiery orange and fine earth and umbra shades. Blue has been the only color that is not available in garnet, but recently color-change garnets from Madagascar have been found n blue.
Garnet has very good hardness and a high refractive index. Garnets are quite sturdy and resistant to everyday wear and tear, and uncomplicated to work into jewelry. Garnets qualify for any cut and come in various shapes and offer an affordable price per carat weight. Garnets are almost always untreated..
Star garnet is a rare and unsuual garnet, found only in Idado in the USA and in India. It displays a four-ray star due to aligned inclusions of rutile.