Garnet – The world’s versatile gem family
Stunning radiant colours from fiery red and warm red-orange to natural greens and mellow yellows are some points of bright well dispersed colours that emanate from a gemstone whose simple name betrays the range of colour and uses that this gemstone family represent.
Spessartine, Almandine and Pyrope are garnets that will tend towards redder colouring, with fiery colours naturally from pyrope, exotic highlights of almandine and warmer tones from spessartine.
These groups share the same common cubic crystal and composition of the other garnets with their vibrant colouring coming from substitutions of metals such as magnesium, iron and manganese into their lattice crystal structure.
Green and yellow more softer and natural colours come from the softer grossular, uvarovite and andradite whose common crystal cubic structure substitutes the calcium element of the other varieties metals.
Garnet crystal’s are some of the wider spread of gemstones around the Earth, naturally forming under great heat and pressure where the presence of silicate rocks and the right conditions give rise to this large family of diverse gemstone.
Garnet and Culture
Being found around the world garnet has been an emblem of prestige in the ancient world and the modern.
Ancient Egyptian royalty wore encrusted red garnet crowns and headwear as symbols of regalia while the Mediterranean societies of Rome and Greece traded this gemstone across the world, sought after even then.
Though royal red and fiery pyrope is well established in the West as emblematising garnet, in Russia and the East some of the more stunning examples include andradite of which those exhibiting incredible natural green colours are most sought after – with care being taken when faceting to ensure the greater part of it’s naturally brilliant radiance is retained and reflected.
As with the other types the reflected colour of this variety is simply brilliant, comparing well to and above many other “precious” gemstones such as green emeralds. Radiant greens of faceted gems have oft been used in past Imperial Russian necklaces and fashion wear as every bit as beautiful and regal-ant as those of Ancient Egyptian Queens and Princesses.
YAN Fashion
Presently using deeper red types our designs serve as a foil for pure silver pendants and show off silver flower bouquets and spacing rings present in YAN design.
While contrasting strikingly against whiter and lighter coloured apparel our designs hold their own with richer coloured clothing.
Used in our present YAN designs garnet outwardly carries an air of beauty that is very present and noticeably more direct than some of our other types that make use of lighter gemstones.
Very suitable for making presence known either showing off against lighter coloured clothing or a layered approach with regal character and stunning beauty these designs are full of beautiful character in every occasion.
Matching to the rose coloured red present as some hues in garnet we have a beautiful pink rhodonite set that carries a slightly more pensive beauty to it’s character, the pink rhodonite lightening and reducing the deeper red of the main bead.
Our current store frontrunner is a set of dark green tinted nephrite and red-orange garnet bead with lots of presence and showing some of our best design to date. This set carries our red-orange garnets which though in the same family have a lighter tone balancing the deeper nephrite colours of the central beads and pendant respectively.
Fashion and Garnet
Rich in colour and lavish in heritage and style garnet is a gemstone greatly suited to dazzling display of beauty and loveliness.
Our designs are unique to YAN showing our designer’s selection of gemstones as careful as her attention to colour hues when painting, selected at great length to make works of art that show unique beauty present in her designs.
Outside of YAN fashion design garnet is much loved as a singular located faceted gemstone, choosing cuts which best display the fire of reds and flare of natural greens such as radiant, round, oval while more exotic pear and rounded triangle trillion shapes make use of the larger carat size of this radiant stone.
Popular singularly displayed inlaid in precious metal garnet is a popular stone for rings and earrings showing elegant beauty with an air of class and dignity coming from the rich colour.
Garnets of most modern necklaces and bracelets are often more elegant display of the beauty of a single faceted gemstone shown off by it’s precious metal surround and inlaid metalwork design. However traditional styles did project rich and regal colour across the entire piece by the use of many garnet stones faceted or otherwise laid onto delicate patterned chain.
Garnet as a glorious palette of colour in gemstone jewellery has been seen in history of fashion culture and continues to stun with modern finds of glorious radiant greens in recent Russian and African finds.
YAN Jewellery continues the use of colourful influences using garnet as a stylish and beautiful regal charactered gem contributing to the palette of our new international fashion designs.