Considered the rarest and most valuable of all garnets, Demantoid Garnet, is a green variety originally discovered in the late 19th century in Russia near the Ural Mountains. Notable for is dispersion, this stone sparkles unlike most other gems and its name derives from the French for ‘diamond-like’. However, it is extremely rare, with most stones found under one carat; demantoids found over two carats are some of the rarest gemstones on earth.

An identifying and desirable characteristic of Russian demantoid is known as a horsetail inclusion, looking under magnification, it appears as radiating fibers of byssolite or chrysolite (asbestos). This inclusion is often oriented as if to appear like it is radiating from the center of the faceted stone and is one of few instances in gemology where the presence of an inclusion is preferred. In fact, a well saturated green demantoid with a distinct horsetail inclusion will command very high prices and most likely confirm its Russian origin. Other sources of demantoid are Namibia and Madagascar.

Garnet is the birthstone for January and the gift for the second wedding anniversary.is abundant throughout the world. A red garnet bead necklace was discovered in an Egyptian grave dating to 3800 B.C.E. Garnet in fact comes from the Latin word ‘garanatus’ meaning ‘seed like’ in reference to a pomegranate’s red jewel-like seeds. Rhodolite specifically gets its names from the Greek work ‘rhodon’, which appropriately means ‘rose colored’. Garnet is the birthstone for January and the gift for the second wedding anniversary.