There's a starman waiting in the sky
He'd like to come and meet us, but he thinks he'd blow our minds...David Bowie. His beautiful eyes were eerie and mismatched, producing a captivating or mesmeric gaze. They remind me of two of my favorite gemstones. I consider myself very lucky to have garnets as my birthstone and share the same birthday month with David Bowie. Did you know that there are at least 17 different varieties of garnet? What a privilege to be a January baby.
Demantoid Garnet (light to deep green) is the rarest and most valuable of them and is one of the rarest of all colored gemstones. It is remarkable for its brilliance and fire. The band I'm wearing in the picture is 14k Rose Gold with Demantoid Garnets.
Now let me introduce my two favorites: Merelani and Spessartine Garnet.
The Merelani Garnet is named after its mining locality, the Merelani Hills of Tanzania. It has a fresh, vivid green color and great brilliance. The color range runs from a light green, to an intense cool green, to a deep forest green. Unfortunately fine quality Merelani Garnets are getting very difficult to find in sizes above two carats. I'm very happy to be the proud owner of the 14k Rose Gold Merelani Garnet necklace featured in the picture.
The Spessartine Garnet is named after the Spessart Mountains, in Bavaria, Germany and is known for its bright orange and reddish-orange colors. This form of garnet was once much rarer, but new abundant finds in Tanzania, China, and Pakistan have really put Spessartine on the map. The sterling silver ring on my middle finger features a Spessartine Garnet.
I can't finish this blog post without mentioning the Tsavorite Garnet. What a beauty! This emerald-green variety of garnet originates in Africa, it was first discovered in Tanzania in 1967...
