Scientific Name: Aluminum silicate
Group: Silicates – neosilicates
Chemical composition: Fe3Al2(SiO4)3
Colors: Deep red, reddish brown, brownish black
Hardness: 6.5 to 7.5
Formation: Rhombdodecahedral or trapezohedrall crystal
Principal Sources: Turkey.
Special Notes: The garnet group includes a group of minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. The name “garnet” may come from either the Middle English word gernet meaning ‘dark red’, or the Latin granatus (“grain”), possibly a reference to the Punica granatum (“pomegranate”), a plant with red seeds similar in shape, size, and color to some garnet crystals. Garnet occurs in metamorphic and igneous rocks worldwide.