In this article
Written by Sameer
Reviewed on
The first thing to know about garnet prices is that "garnet" isn't one gem. It is a family of related minerals. A deep red almandine, an orange spessartite and a honey-brown hessonite are all garnets, yet they come from different mines, look nothing alike and are valued differently. So before you compare per-carat rates, find out which garnet is actually in front of you.
The garnets you will come across
| Species | Usual colour | What buyers should know |
|---|---|---|
| Almandine | Deep red to purplish red | The everyday red garnet; bigger stones can turn quite dark. |
| Pyrope | Bright red to blood red | Often livelier than almandine; plenty of stones are a mix of both. |
| Hessonite | Honey, cinnamon to orange-brown | Known as gomed in Vedic tradition; has a swirly, "heat wave" look inside. |
| Spessartite | Orange to reddish orange | Bright orange stones are in demand and can cost more. |
| Rhodolite | Raspberry to purplish pink | A pyrope-almandine mix, liked for its lighter, brighter tone. |
The rare green garnets, tsavorite and demantoid, are in another price class entirely.
What changes the price within one species
How bright the colour is
This matters more than anything else. Red garnets tend to go dark, almost black, as they get larger. A stone that stays bright and lively when you look at it face up is worth more per carat.
Clarity
Most red garnets are clean to the eye, so inclusions you can see will lower the price. Hessonite is the exception. Its internal swirls are expected, and they are one of the ways you recognise it.
Cut
A well-cut garnet sends light back to your eye. A deep, badly cut one looks like a dark bead. Good cutting can matter more than an extra half carat.
Size
Bigger stones that hold their colour do earn more per carat, but the rise is gentler than with sapphire or ruby, because garnet is fairly plentiful.
Treatments and fakes
Garnets are hardly ever treated, which is one reason people like them. They do get mixed up with ruby, or sold as ruby. A handy clue: under UV light ruby usually glows red, while garnet stays dark. Red glass shows bubbles under a loupe. If you're unsure, we can arrange independent lab testing.
How it holds up
Garnet is 7 to 7.5 on the Mohs scale, so it is fine in a ring worn every day. A hard knock on an exposed edge can still chip it.
Gomed, Rahu and belief
In South Asian practice, garnet and especially hessonite (gomed) is tied to Rahu, and people wear it for a clear sense of purpose and to keep confusion away. These are traditional beliefs, not promised results. See our rashi guide for more.
Working out the per-carat rate
Every stone in our garnet collection has its own price, so the per-carat rate is just the price divided by the weight. You might also compare labradorite or red coral. Urdu names are on our names page. We send Cash on Delivery from Karachi, usually 1–2 working days in the city, and on to Lahore and every other city in Pakistan.
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