Gem Profile 14: Grape Garnet     
View past Profiles...  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13       15 16 17  18  19  20  21  22  23  24  25  26 

    
The name Grape Garnet was derived from its intense purple-red color reminiscent of a fine merlot or cabernet wine.  It is this rich purple-red color, together with the gem’s firey brilliance, which makes rare Grape Garnet so desirable.  This rare purple-red garnet is mined only in the State of Orissa on the bay of Bengal in eastern India.  Here the stones are mined by hand using small tolls, like picks and shovels.  The mines produce small purple pebbles, which are generally full of cracks and inclusions.  Inclusions are small imperfections founding natural gemstones.  At this point it becomes the work of highly skilled lapidaries to seek out the areas free of these cracks and inclusions.  The eye clean portions of the gem rough are than cut and polished to produce the beautiful deep purple, rare Grape Garnet.

         Garnet is mined throughout the world, but only a very small portion of garnet mined in India meets the stringent criteria of rare Grape Garnet.  These gems must be a consistent purple-red color, extremely well cut, and free of eye visible inclusions before thy can be selected as Grape Garnets.  By being free of these inclusions, the true brilliance of the gem can shine through.  The rich purple of rare Grape Garnet is the exact color of the rough removed from the mine.  It is not enhanced in any way. 

         Garnet is the birthstone for January.  Rare Grape Garnet should be worn by anyone who loves rich purple colors and brilliant gemstones.  Rare Grape Garnet has a hardness of 7.25 on the hardness scale, which makes it quite durable and tough. Still, there are certain precautions one should always take with their gemstone jewelry.  Try to avoid direct impact to the gemstone.  If your rare Grape Carnet should collect oil or just, clean with warm water detergent and a soft brush.  It is always a good idea to have your rare Grape Garnets jewelry check periodically by your professional jeweler.  This will help keep it in good shape, giving you years of enjoyment. 

      Return to Homepage