Many folks think that garnet comes only in dark red. Oh, my- no. Garnet can be yellow, green, color-change that moves from blue to purple, and other colors. But what is most often seen in the West is dark red "rhodolite" garnet. It is not expensive primarily because it is not beautiful. If you have a stone that is nearly black- what fun is that? It's the same with blue sapphire. The cheapest ones that come from Australia or China are very, very dark blue- nearly black. They should be cheap! But when garnet is beautiful, it can be enchanting.
Mali garnet is special for many reasons. First, it is very beautiful and also rare. It comes in gorgeous green, honey, cognac, and golden hues that are stunning. It comes only from Mali in West Africa- it is one of the very few stones to have only one source country. Mali is home to Timbuktu, by the way. The country is largely barren and is nearly one million square miles in area.
When Mali garnet is very well-cut like this one is, the brilliance is startling. It catches the light and sends it back to your eyes very efficiently which creates wonderful sparkle. Coupled with the orange/cognac color of the stone makes it a very beautiful gem. Mali garnet is also singly refractive, like diamond or spinel. That means that a ray of light that goes in to the stone also comes out of the stone as a single ray. It is not split into two rays like it would be in a ruby or sapphire or emerald. This is true of all garnets; they are singly refractive.
Mali garnet is also hard enough for use in any kind of jewelry. It is a "7" hardness on the Mohs scale. This stone weighs 1.48 carats and measures 6.82 x 6.78 x 5.15mm deep. Look at that depth measurement! Have you ever heard that 100% of the balls that you putt too lightly will not go into the hole? Likewise, 100% of the gemstones that are too shallow will not have beautiful brilliance. Gemology students will tell you that a stone that is too deep can have extinction (one kind of lack of brilliance) and stones that are not deep enough will be windowed (the other kind of lack of brilliance). But in real life I can tell you that virtually 100% of stones that are deeply cut are also very brilliant. Remember this when you shop for stones online, and get to know the ratios that are acceptable. It varies with each species, but if you regularly buy a certain type of garnet, or sapphire, or spinel- you will quickly learn how deep it needs to be in relationship to other dimensions.
This beautiful and rare cognac-colored Mali garnet starts at 8BTC and the bid increment is 1BTC.
