The Julie Red Garnet and Diamond Necklace

This Garnet:

This lovely antique cushion cut Rhodolite Garnet is 3.66ct and 9.4mm high x 8.43mm wide x 5.27mm deep.

it was mined on the 10th January 2019. Mining Location : Tanzania, east Africa
I purchased it on the 18th March 2019.

Cutters notes: “This is a lovely Rhodolite. A Ruby look alike. Whilst it does have hints of purple as well, the intensity of the red hue is truly beautiful and it resembles a fine Ruby. Gorgeous.”

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 this beautiful Rhodolite was found.

It 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. This garnet was 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, it was tumbled ferociously and rubbed and smashed against other rocks until its surfaces were smooth and most of the cracks and blemishes in the crystal was broken off and worn down.

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