Grossular Garnet Gemstones

Gooseberry

The garnet family is large and varied, with members ranging from the common red almandite to the rare green tsavorite and demantoid. The garnets are differently colored minerals all with a common crystal structure and varying (but related) chemical compositions.

Six common varieties of garnet are recognized based on their chemical composition. They are pyrope, almandine, spessartite, grossularite, uvarovite and andradite. There are also some mixed members, such as rhodolite garnet, which is a mixture of pyrope and almandite by composition.

Grossularite (or grossular) garnet is a calcium-aluminum garnet. The name grossular is derived from the botanical name for the gooseberry, grossularia. The grossular group includes the light to medium green grossularite; the cinnamon-colored hessonite; the colorless leuco garnet; a dense opaque green garnet called hydrogrossular; and the rare and valuable deep green tsavorite garnet, colored by chromium.

Grossular garnet ranges in color from lemon yellow to greenish-yellow, yellowish-green and even mint green.

Grossular Garnet Crystal

Grossular garnet has a high refractive index (1.734-1.759) and therefore displays excellent brilliance. It also has good dispersion, or fire, exhibited best by the lighter colored specimens. Grossular varies in hardness from 6.5 to 7.5 on the Mohs hardness scale. The best specimens of grossularite can easily be confused with the more expensive demantoid garnet. Garnet's good hardness combined with its absence of cleavage makes it a very durable stone, suitable for all kinds of jewelry.

Grossularite deposits can be found in various regions worldwide, such as Canada (Quebec), the USA (Vermont), Africa (South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, and Mali), Russia, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The majority of green grossular originates from Kenya, with hessonite primarily sourced from Madagascar. Tsavorite garnet remains exclusive to a single geographic location on the border between Kenya and Tanzania.