Mineral:  Spessartine

Color(s): Orange to orange-red

Hardness (Moh's): 7.5

Treatment(s): Usually untreated

Mandarin Garnet

A rare gemstone from the spessartine garnet family, mandarin garnets are highly sought after for their vivid mandarin orange color and explosive brilliance due to their high refractive index. Typically, pure orange to yellow-orange hues are highly desired in mandarin garnets.

The high manganese content in spessartine gives these garnets their striking color. Spessartine garnets are rare finds, and facetable mandarin garnets greater than 10 carats are even rarer. These gemstones made a splash in the jewelry world due to their naturally vivid hues that require no treatments or enhancements.

Origin

Mandarin garnets are exclusively mined in Northwest Namibia in the Marienfluss and Kunene regions, as well as Nigeria and Tanzania.

Did you know?

- This variety of garnets was discovered fairly recently, in Namibia in the mid-1990s.