The Lorna Garnet and Diamond Fair Trade Necklace

This Garnet:

This lovely Trillion cut Rhodolite Garnet is 1.485ct and 7.08mm high x 7.40mm wide x 4.75mm deep. I purchased it as part of a pair.

They were mined on the 21st January 2019. Mining Location : Umba, Tanzania
I purchased them on the 23rd May 2019.

I offer a 10% discount if you purchase the Lorna Ring and Necklace as a set. (total £3820.50 inc VAT). Please call or email me to discuss the offer.

Rhodolite Garnet

Near the small village of Mnazi, in the Usambara Mountains of Tanzania, a dirt track winds down the valley following the northern tributary of the famous Umba River. From here the road heads southwards and then eastwards to the Gerevi Hills. As the Umba River meanders through these hills it has for centuries deposited a gem gravel on the twists and bends of the river. It is among these deposits that these beautiful Rhodolites were found.

They began “life” however many millions of years ago with a process called metamorphism. As magma pushed its way up through the existing rock the contact between the invading magma and the older rock caused a change to occur. The intense heat made the nearby minerals recrystallise into minerals stable at the higher temperature. These garnets were among these.

Many millions of years later, as the Umba river eroded away the rock in its charge towards the Indian Ocean, they were dislodged from the rock in which they had formed and carried with the river. During this time, they were tumbled ferociously and rubbed and smashed against other rocks until their surfaces were smooth and most of the cracks and blemishes in the crystals were broken off and worn down.

The crystals were at some point deposited in the silts on one of the bends of the river near the Gerevi Hills. Here, they were panned out of the river by miners panning for gems and taken to Nairobi, where they were bought and cut into this beautiful matched pair.