Gemstones of the World

Tasvorite Garnet – The modern Day Emerald

Tsavorite Garnet was first mined for cuuting and export in the Tsavo National Park, Africa. It has since captured the imagination of many gem lovers world wide. This gem in its finest quality easily compares with the finest emeralds in terms of colour, at a fraction of the price.

Tsavorite Garnet is one of the many gemstones found in Africa, but few have a name related to one of the countries greatest National parks. It has helped bring income to miners in Tsavo and provides a stable job for many.

As gemstones go it usually comes in smaller sizes ideally suited to ring stones and earrings. Any gem that is over one carat in weight is already becoming a scarce stone. Above 3 carats is a rarity in this gem.

The small sizes are due to the nature of it's formation. It is formed within the host rock and unlike Aquamarine does not form in a cavity that is broken into and the crystals extracted. Tsavorite garnet is often broken when simply extracting the rough material from the rock itself.

For this reason bigger specimens are hard to come by unless it is from rivers. The natural erosion created by waterways takes much longer, hundreds of years in most cases, but does not damage the crystals in the process.

In terms of clarity this gem should be eye clean in sizes under a carat for the finest specimens. Anything above 1ct, then inclusions can start to creep in. In gems 3 carats and over small inclusions are to be expected, though the skill of cutting should place them unobtrusively.

In terms of the finest colour, it should be a rich pure green. The gem should not be overly dark. It should sparkle like a firework in any decent light source.

For those looking for a lighter colour, tsavorite garnet does not disappoint. It comes in every shade of green from mint, to a dark forest green. In recent years the mint colour has jumped in price due to the liveliness of the gem it produces. But overall the finest stones should be a deep, pure green.

There are not many gems that can claim to have such a heritage as Tsavorite Garnet. Indeed it is like taking a part of one of Africa’s finest game reserves home to treasure forever.