Almandine Garnet Value, Price, and Jewelry Informa on

Gold ring with almandine garnet and hyacinths (zircons). German work from the la er half of the 19th century. From the collec on of the Hallwyl Museum, Stockholm,
Sweden. Photo by Helena Bonnevier. Licensed under CC By-SA 3.0.

Almandine is perhaps the most common garnet species. Forming series with pyrope and spessar ne garnets, these gems occur in the deep brownish or pur
reds most o en associated with garnets. They make affordable and durable jewelry stones.

Almandine Value
Due to their abundance and occurrence worldwide, almandines generally fetch low prices. The purplish-red almandine-pyrope blend rhodolite is an excep
our garnet buying guide for informa on on value factors for almandines and other garnets.

The Interna onal Gem Society (IGS) has a list of businesses offering gemstone appraisal services.

Garnet Value via Gem Price Guide

Top Color: oR, R, PR, rP 6/4

Almandine All sizes

   to   /ct

Fine Color Andradite: G 5/4

Andradite All sizes

See the en re Gem Price Guide.

 Start an IGS Membership today for full access to our price guide (updated monthly).
See Plans and Pricing

Almandine Informa on
DATA VALUE

Name Almandine

Is a Variety of Garnet

Crystallography  Isometric

Refrac ve Index  1.75-1.83

Colors  Deep red, brownish red, brownish black, violet red.

Luster  Vitreous to resinous.

Fracture  Conchoidal

Hardness  7–7.5

Specific Gravity  3.95-4.30

Birefringence  None. May show anomalous birefringence.

Cleavage  None

Dispersion  0.027

Heat Sensi vity Some

Luminescence  None

Transparency  Translucent to transparent.

Absorp on Almandines have a dis nc ve, diagnos c absorp on spectrum: A band 200 Å wide at 5760 (strong) and also strong bands at 5260 and 5050. Lines may app
Spectrum  6170 and 4260. With a spectroscope, you’ll see this pa ern of 3 (or some mes 5) bands in all almandines as well as most garnets with a significant almandi
component.

Phenomena  Asterism; color change (very rare).

Birthstone  January

Formula Fe3Al2Si3O12

Pleochroism  None.

Op cs  N = 1.75-1.83; usually above 1.78. May show anomalous birefringence.

Etymology A corrup on of the name of a classic source of this garnet, Alabanda, in Asia Minor, now Turkey.

Occurrence Almandine is a widespread cons tuent of metamorphic rocks; also in igneous rocks, in contact metamorphic zones, and as an alluvial mineral.

Inclusions  See “Iden fying Characteris cs” below.

 Almandine (garnet): Idaho (1.0), Africa (4.5, 9.0), Brazil (24.2), Africa, rhodolite (8.0, 3.5). Photo © Joel E. Arem, PhD, FGA. Used with
permission.

Comments
Like all garnets, iron-dominant (Fe) almandine virtually always occurs in series with other garnet species. Most frequently, with magnesium-dominant (Mg) p
it forms the deep red garnets o en encountered in commercial jewelry. With manganese-dominant (Mn) spessar ne, it forms more brownish to orangish re
garnets. Almandines can also show purplish red, wine red, and purple colors.

Known also as almandite (chiefly a Bri sh usage), almandine has been popular throughout history. The Ancient Egyp ans used almandines in jewelry as earl
3,500 BCE. The Classical Roman scholar Pliny the Elder called the finest red gemstones with “brilliancy like fire” carbunculus, a grouping which included alm
and likely red spinels and rubies as well. Although no longer used professionally by gemologists, the term “carbuncle” persisted into the 19th century and ca
refer to cabochon-cut red gems, most commonly almandine garnets. You might s ll encounter this term in descrip ons of an que jewelry.

A carved almandine garnet depic ng Eros carrying off the weapons and clothing
of Hercules. 1st century BCE, Italy, 1.3 x 0.6 x 1.6 cm. Gi of John Taylor
Johnston, 1881. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Public Domain.

As an affordable garnet species, almandines make an excellent choice for January birthstone jewelry.

Almandine Garnet Varie es

Star Garnets
Rare star garnets come primarily from India and the U.S. state of Idaho. (The star garnet is the Idaho state gem). When properly cabbed, almandines with in
of asbes form minerals (pyroxene or amphibole) may yield a 4 or 6-ray asterism effect. The Idaho material has a refrac ve index (N) of 1.808 and a specific
(SG) of 4.07. (Due to inclusions, the SG can reach up to 4.76).

Highly prized by collectors, star garnets rank among the most difficult gems to cut.

Star garnet (almandine): Africa (ca 15). © Joel E. Arem, PhD, FGA. Used with
permission.

Color Change Garnets

Most color change garnets have a pyrope-spessar ne composi on. However, Idaho almandine-pyropes can show a strong red to purplish red color shi un
incandescent and LED light.

Rhodolite
The purplish almandine-pyrope blend known as rhodolite is generally considered its own garnet variety, with its own sub-varie es.

Iden fying Characteris cs

An analysis of RI, hue, and SG can help dis nguish almandines from other garnets.
 Almandine garnets from the Cretaceous, Garnet Ledge, Alaska, USA. Each crystal measures approximately 8 mm across. Photo by James St. John. Licensed under CC
By 2.0.

Absorp on Spectrum
Almandines have a dis nc ve, diagnos c absorp on spectrum:

A band 200 Å wide at 5760 (strong) and also strong bands at 5260 and 5050.

Lines may appear at 6170 and 4260.

With a spectroscope, you’ll see this pa ern of 3 (or some mes 5) bands in all almandines as well as most garnets with a significant almandine component.
 A deep burgundy almandine-spessar ne garnet on a white matrix. 6.4 x 6.3 x 6.1 cm, Ialamitana, Sahanivotry Commune, Antsirabe 2 District,
Vakinankaratra Region, Antananarivo Province, Madagascar. © Rob Lavinsky, www.iRocks.com. Used with permission.

Op cs
Although isometric like all garnets, almandines may show anomalous double refrac on (ADR) due to strain.

Inclusions
Usually eye clean, faceted almandines may s ll contain a wide but unobtrusive variety of inclusions. This holds true especially for silk, which becomes visibl
only under magnifica on.

Almandine inclusions may include the following:

Zircon crystals with halos due to natural radioac vity.

Irregular, dot-like crystals, and lumpy crystals.

Ru le needles, usually short fibers, crossed at 110° and 70°.

Dense hornblende rods (especially material from Sri Lanka).

Asbes form needles of augite or hornblende that run parallel to the dodecahedral edges.

Crystals of minerals such as apa te, ilmenite, spinel, monazite, bio te, and quartz.
 Three almandine cabochons, locality India, on display at the Mineralogical Museum, Bonn, Germany. Photo by Ra’ike. Licensed under CC By-SA 3.0.

Synthe cs
Geologists have manufactured via the hydrothermal method pure synthe c almandine crystals as well as almandine-pyrope blends. Synthe c almandines h
appeared on the gem market. A gemologist should look for telltale signs of hydrothermal growth, including seed plates.

For other synthe c garnet varie es, consult the “Synthe cs” sec on of the main garnet gem lis ng.

Enhancements
Although garnets typically receive no gem treatments, enhancements do occur. For example, hea ng an almandine-spessar ne garnet in air to 920° C prod
dark gray metallic coa ng of hema te on its surface. Metallic coa ngs have been noted on garnets since 1975. Decades ago, almandine-pyropes with a me
coa ng were marketed as so-called “Proteus garnets.”

For more informa on on this and other possible garnet treatments, consult the “Enhancements” sec on of our garnet buying guide.

Sources
Major gem-quality sources include the following:

India: Jaipur (in mica schist); also Rajasthan and Hyderabad; some stars also.
 Madagascar: large sizes.

Sri Lanka: at Trincomalee, fine color and large size.

United States: Fort Wrangell, Alaska (fine, well-formed crystals in slate); Colorado; Connec cut; Idaho (star garnets); Maine; Michigan; New York; Pennsylvan
Dakota.

Afghanistan; Austria; Brazil: Minas Gerais, Bahia; Canada: Baffin Island, Bri sh Columbia; Czech Republic; Ethiopia; Greenland; Japan; Kenya; Mozambique; My
Norway; Pakistan; Russia; Solomon Islands; Sweden; Tanzania; Uruguay; Vietnam; Zambia.

Almandine, 1.6 x 1.4 x 1.2 cm, Fauske, Nordland, Norway. © Rob Lavinsky,
www.iRocks.com. Used with permission.

Stone Sizes
Very large crystals exist, but due to the material’s dark tone, gem cu ers usually facet only small to medium-size gems. If cut shallow, these let light pass th
The condi on of the rough also limits finished sizes. For example, the Barton Mine in New York has produced 60 cm crystals in rock. However, this material
badly sha ered that stones only up to 2 carats can be cut from the fragments.

Indian and Brazilian almandines cons tute the bulk of material on the marketplace.

Smithsonian Ins tu on (Washington, DC): 174 and 67.3 (stars, red-brown, Idaho); 40.6 (red-brown, Madagascar).

Care
With no cleavage and a hardness of 7-7.5, almandines make durable stones for any type of jewelry se ng. (For gem design ideas, see Jeff Graham’s ar cle
recommenda ons). However, exercise care when cleaning. Almandine’s microscopic inclusions may burst due to extreme heat or ultrasound, fracturing the
Avoid these mechanical cleaning systems and s ck to a so brush, mild detergent, and warm water, instead.

See our Gemstone Care Guide for recommended cleaning methods.

 16.76-ct almandine-pyrope garnet, dark red, rectangular step cut, 16 x 12.1 mm, India. © The Gem Trader. Used with permission.

by Joel E. Arem, Ph.D., FGA, Donald Clark, CSM IMG, Interna onal Gem Society

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