Scientific Name: Calcium chromium silicate
Group: Silicates – neosilicates
Chemical composition: Ca3Cr2(SiO4)3
Colors: Bright green color comes from chromium.
Hardness: 7.5
Formation: Cubic crystals; Dodecahedral, trapezohedral form
Principal Sources: Finland, Russia, South Africa, California
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. Uvarovite is the rarest form of gem garnet.