Nice garnets, if I found some like that I'd try and get one cut then see what it turns out like. I haven't had much luck with finding garnets to cut. A few months ago I got some good size andradite garnets but they are black with only a little bit of red on the edge on some of them. This weekend I found some almandine garnets, on Sat the ones I got were very small (1mm) but under magnification some had good red colour. Then yesterday got onto some bigger ones (2-5mm) still small I guess but they look a bit brown. Need a way to clean them.
Such a shame
- Thread starter tailormarc
- Start date
Help Support Prospecting Australia:
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2017
- Messages
- 1,187
- Reaction score
- 5,596
Well looks like what i found is rare. Here is a email i just received from WA museum after testing a few pieces...
....
...
Hi Mark,
The garnet that you brought in for ID turned out to be almandine, that's the iron-rich garnet. It forms a compositional series with pyrope (or rhodolite) where magnesium substitutes for the iron. Your garnets contains a minor amount of magnesium, calcium and manganese. You can find out more about the gemological characteristics of almandine here https://www.gemdat.org/gem-452.html. I think it's rare to find gem quality almandine in WA. Your garnets occur in a metamorphic rock called a granitic gneiss. Please let me know if you have any other questions and when you would like to collect your samples.
Kind regards
Peter
....
...
Hi Mark,
The garnet that you brought in for ID turned out to be almandine, that's the iron-rich garnet. It forms a compositional series with pyrope (or rhodolite) where magnesium substitutes for the iron. Your garnets contains a minor amount of magnesium, calcium and manganese. You can find out more about the gemological characteristics of almandine here https://www.gemdat.org/gem-452.html. I think it's rare to find gem quality almandine in WA. Your garnets occur in a metamorphic rock called a granitic gneiss. Please let me know if you have any other questions and when you would like to collect your samples.
Kind regards
Peter
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2017
- Messages
- 1,187
- Reaction score
- 5,596
Well Sneaky gems did a great job cutting it!!! Cant help the darkness of the stone but it looks so good in the sun flashing rich reds.....
image by Marc Russo, on Flickr
image by Marc Russo, on Flickr
image by Marc Russo, on Flickr
image by Marc Russo, on Flickr
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2017
- Messages
- 1,187
- Reaction score
- 5,596
[video=480,360]https://youtu.be/j7Hm9lyXGGc[/video]
Very Nice tailormarc... :Y: Garnets, my favourite Stone...
LW....
LW....
Oh yeah that's what it's all about. Great looking stone. Nothing like finding a nice bit of rough then sending it off and recieving a top quality gem back. :Y: 
- Joined
- Jun 24, 2014
- Messages
- 316
- Reaction score
- 837
It was a great job to do. Thank you for the opportunity. I'm positive that nice little vein you found will yield some top quality stones.
I agree with tailormarc that these are very clean garnets and such a perfect rich red colour in the sun. If they where a few shades lighter they would fetch top dollar for for that category of stone.
If you go back there and get a big bag full keep me in mind!!!! I'll buy a heap of them
I agree with tailormarc that these are very clean garnets and such a perfect rich red colour in the sun. If they where a few shades lighter they would fetch top dollar for for that category of stone.
If you go back there and get a big bag full keep me in mind!!!! I'll buy a heap of them
- Joined
- May 1, 2014
- Messages
- 1,958
- Reaction score
- 2,530
Another nice job there SC :Y: It shows that even dark stones can look good when properly faceted. Personally, I quite like a dark stone that shows flashes of intense colour in strong light. I've known a few people who actually preferred the look of a dark sapphire that shows deep blue flashes in strong light over the lighter shades.
Interesting comment Lefty, we have been keeping our fingers crossed that we might have a dark cutter, would almost certainly end up being two stones due to the shape. Came from a bucket of gravel we brought home from our Qld trip in July to Sapphire & Rubyvale and have been quietly sitting on it to find the right person to cut as I don't have the skills yet. Couple of the experienced guys at the club think we might have something.
Similar threads
