Sperssartite Garnet
SPESSARTITE GARNET
Spessartite Garnet has shades of colors in red-orange, yellow- orange, bright yellow, and pure orange. With mosted valued- colors spessartite garnet are red-orange and orange colors. The color is a fiery sunny-orange to red-brown. As with the other garnets, it tends to occur in a blend with other garnet species. Gems with the highest spessartite content are a light orange. Those with almandine content are reddish, to red brown in hue.
Spessartite garnet belongs to the large and varied mineral group of garnet. Garnet comes from the Latin word “granatus”, which means grain, because many garnet deposits are small grains of red crystals in their host rock. The fiery sunny-orange stone is popular for its very good hardness and its brilliance due to its high refractive index. Until the recent discovery mines in Namibia and Mozambique, spessartite garnet was rarely seen in jewelry. Its name is derived from former occurrence in the German “Spessart” forest. Garnet is a January birthstone.
In Antiquity, as well as in the Middle Ages people believed that the cosmos is reflected in gemstones. Garnet is assigned to the planets Mars, Mercury and Pluto. The esoteric movement revived the ancient belief and the gem industry made it another marketing tool to promote certain gems.
The healing powers of gems remain a controversial issue, but are mentioned for centuries by healers, shamans and medicine men. Whether it’s a fact or a placebo effect doesn’t matter, if it helps. The safest approach is to wear the gemstone in skin contact to the troubled part of the body. Garnet is said to be of help for arthritis, varicose veins and backache.