The best color for the hessonite garnet is medium to dark orange or brown orange to brown yellow with some variations in tone. Hessonite garnet gem stone gets its excellent color from the trace element iron or the mineral manganese.

The highest demand and best quality is Mozambique East African.

All garnets serve as the birthstone for January.

Garnet History & Lore

Garnets have been known to Man for thousands of years. Noah, it is said, used a garnet lantern to help him steer his ark through the dark night. Garnets are also found in jewelry from early Egyptian, Greek and Roman times. Many an early explorer and traveler preferred carrying a garnet with him, for the garnet was popular as a talisman and protective stone, as it was believed to light up the night and protect its bearer from evil and disaster. Today, science has taught us that the garnet's proverbial luminosity comes from its high refractive index.

Hessonite is a stone of creativity, believed to stimulate creativity on all levels and can be used to encourage self-respect, respect to others, and spiritual growth. In addition to this, Hessonite is believed to be a good balancing stone, calming the nerves, quieting the mind, and relieving depression.

Hessonite is an increasingly rare gemstone and one of the most prized varieties of Grossular Garnet.

Chemical composition

• Hessonite garnet is calcium aluminum silicate (Ca3 Al 2 {SiO4}3)

• Specific gravity is 3.65

• Refractive index ranges between 1.742 and 1.748

• Hardness of Hessonite garnet on the mohs scale is 7.25

• Refractive index 1.760 (+.010, -.020)

• Birefringence none

• Pleochroism none

• Dispersion .026

• Ultraviolet fluorescence inert

• Absorption spectra usually at 504, 520, and 573nm, may also have faint lines at 423, 460, 610 and 680-690nm

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