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A Brief "Tutorial" ...
The blue garnet crystals for sale on these pages represent one of the rarest gem species in the
Mineral Kingdom. Up until the "late 1990s", as most online sources state, blue garnets were unheard of in
the mineral world. But that changed when pieces of blue garnet rough were unearthed in Bekily, Madagascar.
The blue garnet rough is exceedingly rare, and it is typically found in rough nodules and shards, with some gemmy pieces
fetching over $2,000/carat for those stones that show the best blue color and potential for cutting larger stones. And
the odds of finding a CRYSTALLIZED blue garnet among the shards of gem rough harvested from this locale are about 1,000
to one (i.e., one must search through about 1,000 pieces of gem rough to find a piece that is crystallized). And apparently,
nearly all the pieces that are crystallized end up being cut anyway into gemstones. These
crystals actually change color depending upon the light source in which they are viewed. The blue color is very strong
in fluorescent light, as well as in direct sunlight. The color turns to purple under incandescent lighting. The
color change is due to the presence of small amounts of chromium and vanadium. The crystals in this update also show
evidence of pleochroism, in that the color and intensity of the color actually show a visible change depending upon
the orientation of the crystals. Research that has been performed on the blue garnet gem rough from this locale shows
that this variety of garnet is actually a hybrid of sorts, possessing characteristics of both spessartite and pyrope. The crystals have some very unusual and interesting shapes, primarily because they form within small fissures
of a severely altered, "crumbly" bedrock, where the solutions have eroded the matrix rock, and the majority
of the crystals have been partially eroded or fractured into smaller fragments. It has been reported that some of this
material is also found in alluvial deposits, where it was may have been transported from its parent source. The crystals
for sale in this update show very unique crystallization patterns as can be seen in the photos. Due to the environment
in which the crystals formed, it is difficult to ascertain the most probable crystal form that these crystals resemble (i.e.,
trapezohedron, dodecahedron, etc.), but some of the more symmetrical crystals seem to be leaning more toward dodecahedral
in shape. Yet each crystal is unique in form, color, and patterns ... very interesting indeed. We feel very excited and privileged to have accumulated a few very choice, insanely rare specimens of crystallized
blue "color-changing" garnets from this find, which were sorted over time from literally thousands of pieces
of rough (we would like to thank our good friend with a keen eye who identified, sorted, and photographed these crystals for
us!). And we would like to extend our thanks to the brave and ambitious individuals who ventured to the source of this
material in Madagscar with armed escorts (no exaggeration!) to obtain these specimens and help make them available
to mineral collectors like you! This is a very rare opportunity to own an ACTUAL CRYSTAL
of the elusive, highly-desired yet nearly impossible to find (until now!) color-changing blue garnet "pyrope-spessartite"
species from Madagascar! We know they are not cheap, but they are priced for their rarity and desirability ...
You will not find these anywhere else on the web! And one more thing ... we can't stress enough how rare it is to find
crystals of blue garnet, so please reconsider before deciding to cut these into gemstones, you would do better by purchasing
one of those "nodules" or "shards" of gem rough than to ruin one of these crystallized treasures!
NOTE: The crystals were photographed using two different light sources to show the color change (BLUE = Fluorescent,
PURPLE = Incandescent). The colors in the pictures very closely resemble the true colors you will see in person.
Also, some crystals still show trace amounts of residual earth which can be cleaned if you desire.
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