New member here into and gem identification help. I'm wondering if someone could tell me if this is a Garnet? πŸ˜ƒ

Hello, first I was wondering if this was a garnet? If so can anyone tell me what color of red it is? Thank you for any help that I can get Κ˜β€ΏΚ˜


Hey! I’m also new here but that looks like a garnet to me based on the dodecahedron crystallography. Its hard to say positively which type without any RI, SG, or dispersion testing. It looks to be an almandine or rhodolite garnet. However with there being so many different garnets, the safe bet is to do some testing and narrow it down from there. Hope this helped!

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I am a rockhound and not a gem guy but I have done a number of things around garnet. That top photo is too poorly focused to tell anything. Wild guess would be garnet first, spinel second. To me, first impression, that second photo is clearly a garnet. As SamuelP notes, there are too many kinds of garnets to tell from here, especially since they intergrade. What’s the location? As with all rocks and minerals, location is everything. Once known, we can go further. Good luck.

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sounds like a good answer.2nd photo looks to be a garnet.

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Take a look at the Cubic crystal habit forms chart below. You should see that your photo matches forms on the first and third rows. Garnets are of the Cubic crystal habit, so you have evidence that your stone is probably a garnet. Now, I also happen to have several known Spessartite rough garnets and polished ones as well that match this red color. Probability is the soul of reason. ;))
CubicForms

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Thank you for taking the time to reply to Rhonda. It is this kindness that helps our entire community.

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Hello Rhonda, your specimen does indeed look like a garnet, I have seen such as this in specimens from Idaho. The first photo is very hard to discern because of the lighting.
As was pointed out by a previous response, one cannot be sure by looking at a photo. Perhaps there is a jeweler in your area with gemology equipment to test the refractive index?
Also, WELCOME, New Member!! :blush:

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I’d bet my life on it that it’s a garnet

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