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Garnet Pendants
By the term 'garnet', the specialist understands a
group of more than ten different gemstones of similar chemical composition. It is true to say that red is the colour most
often encountered, but the garnet also exists in various shades of green, a tender to intense yellow, a fiery orange and some
fine earth-coloured nuances. The only colour it cannot offer is blue. Garnets are much sought-after and much worked gemstones
- the more so because today it is not only the classical gemstone colours red and green which are so highly esteemed, but
also the fine hues in between. Furthermore, the world of the garnets is also rich in rarities such as star garnets and stones
whose colour changes depending on whether they are seen in daylight or artificial light.
And what else is there that
distinguishes this gemstone group from the others? Well, first of all there is its good hardness of 7 to 7.5 on the Mohs scale.
With a few minor exceptions it applies to all the members of the garnet group, and it is the reason for the excellent wearing
qualities of these gemstones. Garnets are relatively insensitive and uncomplicated to work with. The only thing they really
don't like is being knocked about or subjected to improper heat treatment. A further plus is their high refractive index,
the cause of the garnet's great brilliance. The shape of the raw crystals is also interesting. Garnet means something like
'the grainy one', coming from the Latin 'granum', for grain. This makes reference not only to the typical roundish shape of
the crystals, but also to the colour of the red garnet, which often puts one in mind of the seeds of a ripe pomegranate. In
the Middle Ages, the red garnet was also called the 'carbuncle stone'
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Sparkling 4mm round faceted pyrope garnet weighing approx. .5 ct. set in a simple sterling silver prong setting.
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This small glass vial is about 1½" tall and is filled with very small pyrope garnets that I hand collected near Lake
Ellen, Mi. I permanently capped the vial in sterling silver to make it into a very unique and interesting pendant.
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