Is Garnet Expensive?

Garnets are the workhorses of the gemstone world. A hardy gem that comes in pretty much any color you can imagine, garnets are often priced more reasonably than similar-looking corundum. Looking through the International Gem Societies Price Guide, you will notice that we have no master list for garnet. Rather, we have separated each variety and given them their own tailored value ranges. We do this because garnet is a ubiquitous gemstone with variants found all over the world. Some species are commonplace while others are exceptionally rare, and each deserve their own independent analysis. 

Garnets have been used in jewelry for thousands of years. This Greek or Cypriot golden ring from the late 4^th-2^nd century BCE features a durable red garnet cabochon that has survived the test of time. Photo The Met.

What Are Garnets and Why Are There So Many Varieties?

The general chemical formula for garnet is R₃R₂(SIO₄)₃ where "R" sits in place of some kind of element like iron, calcium, or magnesium. With so many potential chemical pairings on the table, there are quite a few viable combinations, ultimately yielding more than twenty distinct garnet species. However, only five of those are considered to be gem-quality and large enough to be marketable: almandine, andradite, grossular, pyrope, and spessartine. 

But don't get comfortable! This list of five distinct species is deceptively simple. In actuality, the vast majority of garnet crystals are a mix of multiple species. Having so many chemical elements at play is why garnets have a full range of color expression. 

Value Characteristics for All Garnet Varieties are the Standard Factors Color, Clarity, Carat Weight, and Cut

Like most gemstones, the value range of any garnet species is based primarily on four characteristics: the quality of its color expression, its clarity, how much it weighs, and how well it is cut. Let's examine each variety individually to see what knowledgeable buyers value the most.

Individual Garnet Species and Their Qualities

• Almandine-Pyrope Garnet - The name says it all, this garnet variety is comprised of a mixture of almandine and pyrope species. Both of these minerals express a red bodycolor that can show some purple or orange, so it is no surprise that, when mixed together, those are the colors that manifest. Speaking about public awareness of garnets, most are familiar with red gems, and this is the type that they envision, knowingly or not. 

Almandine and pyrope garnet species often have eye-clean clarity. As a result, gems with eye-visible characteristics have noticeably lower per-values than clean stones.

Almandine-pyrope garnets are among the most common of garnet varieties with mines located around the world. This keeps the supply chain well-stocked with affordable stones. It is also important to note that gems with almandine are found in many sizes, so the difference in per-carat values of small stones compared to larger ones is not as dramatic as is the case for some of the other garnet varieties. 

• Andradite Garnet - This species of garnet displays yellow (sometimes called "topazolite"), green, or both colors combined. Gems whose color has a strong brown component are valued notably less than brighter colors. Adding to the appeal of andradite garnets is their high rate of dispersion which exceeds that of diamonds, giving well-cut faceted stones exceptional fire.

Andradites can have eye-visible inclusions which lowers their value, especially if inclusions are numerous enough to cloud transparency.

Many andradite garnets have African origin with well-known sources in Mali and Namibia. There are other deposits spread around the globe in places like Russia, the United States, and Italy. These multiple sources provide a stable supply with reasonable per-carat values.  

• Color Change Garnet - There are two varieties of garnets that display phenomenal effects. The first type is a very rare color-change variety that comes from Tanzania, Madagascar, and Sri Lanka. Color change garnets that are a mixture of pyrope and spessartine species show quite a wide variety of colors. You can find stones that transition from pink to purple, pink to orange, red to orange, and orange to yellow. The most dramatic transition is a blue or bluish green color in daylight to purple or purple red in incandescent light. 

In addition to being rare, color change garnets also tend to be quite small, often weighing less than two carats when cut. Larger stones with strong color change effect have significant per-carat values. 

Rarity paired with beauty and uniqueness keep per-carat values of color change garnets high.

• Demantoid Garnet - When andradite garnets display a bright green color, they are called by the trade name "demantoid". Uncovered first in Russia, these are rare gems, and their price tags reflect that. Demantoids are rarely found weighing more than three carats, and have the high dispersion that is characteristic of andradites, giving them a vibrant multi-colored sparkle expression. Their full color range spans from yellowish or brownish green to bright green. Demantoids whose color is specifically a moderately strong to strongly saturated pure green with a medium to medium-dark tone consistently have very high per-carat values. 

The demantoid garnets from some deposits, including the original Russian mines, can have a distinctive clarity characteristic called "horsetail" inclusions. Horsetail inclusions are eye-visible elongated fibers whose ends are grouped together and spread throughout the stone, appearing like a horse's tail suspended in water. While the value of other garnet varieties is lowered by the presence of inclusions, demantoid value balloons when bold and distinct horsetail inclusions are present. Cutters will abandon standard faceting proportions when presented with such demantoids and instead opt for an orientation and shape that highlights the inclusions best. Sizable demantoids with the top green color and fine horsetail inclusions are among the most valued garnet gems on the market. 

A quick note about their cut. Demantoids are the softest of all garnet varieties and cutters will usually opt for a rounded shape rather than a square or rectangle outline whose corners and edges are vulnerable to chipping. 

• Grossular Garnet - Grossular garnets have a wide range of color expression spanning from colorless to yellow, brown, white, pink, red, orange, and green. With so many possible colors, grossular garnets have two associated trade names which will be described below - yellow hessonites and green tsavorites. 

There are hundreds of gem deposits worldwide that have yielded grossular garnets but most faceted stones weigh less than five carats. The value for any gem bigger than that is much higher than the average price.

The clarity of grossular garnets is often more translucent than transparent. Cutters may choose to shape cabochons or beads from cloudy rough that isn't suitable for fine jewelry. 

• Hessonite Garnet - Many refer to the color of hessonite garnets as "cinnamon", being comprised of a mixture of yellow, orange, and sometimes red that is almost always mixed to some degree of brown. Unfortunately, most material is so heavily included that it isn't used in jewelry. Even relatively clean hessonites can show an oddly disrupted transparency called the "scotch-in-water" effect caused by inclusions of various types of crystals. 

Only a fraction of grossular garnet deposits yield hessonite gems, and stones tend to be quite small. Mexico has gained the distinction of producing a steady supply of fine hessonite garnets with a desirable, well-saturated orange hue. 

Speaking about value, hessonites with strong brown color are less valuable than stones with a purer yellow or orange hue. Clarity matters quite a bit with so many stones being unusable due to numerous inclusions. All but the nicest hessonites are an affordable garnet variety.

• Malaia/Malaya Garnet - "Malaya" or "Malaia" garnets are a mix of pyrope and spessartine. A few also incorporate varying degrees of almandine. Their color typically ranges from pink to pinkish orange, but you might find orangy and reddish gems. Whenever the color expression includes brown, the value is lowered. 

The original source of Malaia/Malaya garnets was the Umba River Valley in Tanzania where they stood out against the more common and popular purple rhodolite garnets. It took a while for the trade to appreciate the unique beauty of Malaia/Malaya garnets. In fact, the word "Malaya" is derived from a Swahili word that means "outcast" referencing the initially greater demand for the purple garnets they were found alongside. Now, they have gained their own devoted following.

The top-value Malaia/Malaya garnets have a bright color with minimal or complete lack of brown. Again, good clarity and transparency are prized. Also, like many gem-quality garnets, Malaia/Malaya stones weight a few carats or less. High quality stones that weigh in excess of ten carats are very rare and often purchased by collectors.

• Rhodolite Garnet - When almandine-pyrope garnets exhibit purple as well as the famous red, gemologists call it rhodolite. Rhodolites that show strong purplish red color with medium to medium dark tone and strong saturation might be mistaken for rubies or red tourmaline. Thanks to their deep and appealing color, rhodolite garnets are often valued the highest of all the red-based garnet varieties, though that number is still just a fraction of similarly sized rubies. 

In addition to their appealing color, rhodolites are known for good clarity. Not only are gems often eye-clean, but the lack of large inclusions means that rhodolites are highly durable. As a result, gem-quality rhodolite is available in sizes that most other garnets varieties can't achieve. Having so many big stones available, cutters can do a lot with rhodolites. In addition to calibrated cuts, it is not uncommon to see freeform designs and carvings.

Thankfully, the supply of this popular garnet is both fed by multiple sources with plentiful reserves which keeps per-carat values relatively inexpensive. 

• Spessartine Garnet - Showing yellow, orange, red, and brown hues, spessartines have become popular in the last few decades thanks to the discovery of rich deposits that have been marketed around the world. Gems with a reddish orange hue matched with medium to medium dark tone and vivid saturation called "aurora red" are considered the most desirable. Spessartines that are pale or excessively dark have lower per-carat values.

The tone of spessartines doesn't get as strong as almandine garnets which can appear overly dark in large sizes. Cutters take advantage of this by creating faceted stones in high carat weights that are bright and expressive. Of the many sources of spessartine, Brazil has gained a reputation of producing giant raw crystals that can be fashioned into finished gems weighing up to 40 carats which sell for quite a bit of money. But, crystals of this size remain relatively rare. You are more likely to see gems on the market weighing under five carats.

Overall, the value of spessartines varies widely. Pale and dark stones are relatively cheap while finely colored big crystals are amongst the most expensive garnets you can find. 

• Star Garnet - The second phenomenal effect that garnets can display is asterism. Also called "star" garnets, these gems are not as scarce as their color-change relative and are usually a mix of almandine and pyrope varieties. The four or six-rayed stars are caused by large quantitates of highly ordered rutile inclusions. Like color-change garnets, star garnets are found in just a few locations, including Sri Lanka, India, and Idaho state in the U.S. 

When garnets have asterism that is paired with high transparency, bright color expression, and large size, stones can have sizable per-carat values. The most impressive stones are valued individually.

• Tsavorite Garnet - Tsavorite garnets are the bright green and often most valuable variety of grossular garnets. Many compare tsavorite garnets to emeralds. At their best, tsavorite garnets look very much like emeralds, but often have better clarity and durability. Also, it is significantly easier to find tsavorites with matching color expression, something that is a challenge with emeralds. Another advantage over emeralds is that tsavorites are rarely treated to improve color or clarity. Being just a beautiful as emeralds with some superior physical characteristics drives the value of this stone.

Like their hessonite cousins, tsavorites tend to be quite small, prompting cutters to sometimes get creative with their faceting choices to preserve carat weight. As a result, the quality of the cut greatly impacts the value of small tsavorites. Alternatively, since bigger stones are so rare, values rise quickly as carat weight grows.