With 15 different species, Garnet may vary in color and chemical formula, all garnets have a cubic crystalline system and usually form dodecahedra, trapezohedrons, or both combined. 

Among the most abundant garnets are the almandine (red or pink), the pirope (red or orange), the spessartine (yellow, orange or red) and the grossularia (green, red, orange, brown, yellow or white). The almandine when cut as a cabochon sometimes presents a star-shaped optical effect. This is due to the rutile inclusions it may contain. The name garnet comes from the Latin “granatum” (endowed with grains), referring to the red fruit of the pomegranate.

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This stone can be found in: Thailand, India, Brazil, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, United States, Canada and Russia.