Garnet and Tourmaline Bracelet

Garnet and Tourmaline Bracelet
Garnet and Tourmaline Bracelet
Garnet and Tourmaline Bracelet
Garnet and Tourmaline Bracelet
Garnet and Tourmaline Bracelet

A795-JEBR

Taiwan
 Garnet  Tourmaline
A795-JEBR

Garnet

- aren't these the wonderfully deep red gemstones which are often found in antique jewellery? Well, this is only the partial truth, as a warm and deep red is indeed the most frequently occurring colour for Garnets. But unfortunately only few people know that the realm of Garnets holds many more bright and beautiful colours. The traditional image of Garnet has been brightly transformed by spectacular founds, mainly from Africa. Although red remains the major colour, Garnets today easily adapt to any new colour trend in fashion due to the rich range available. And because of the new founds, there are reliable sources for steady supply in these fancy colours. All this explains why this very gemstone family manages to keep on providing new impulses for the jewellery events in our days.

An expert will understand "Garnet" as the denomination for a group of over ten different gemstones with a similar chemical structure. Although the colour red is the one which occurs most frequently, there are also Garnets showing different shades of green, pale to bright yellow, fiery orange and fine earth- and umbra-shades. Only blue is a colour which is not available in Garnet. Garnets are gemstones which are in high demand and are often worked into pieces of jewellery - especially since today not only the traditional gemstone colours red, blue and green are cherished by the consumer, but the intermediate shades and hues are also very popular. Besides the realm of Garnets also possesses rarities such as asterism or atones which change their colour from daylight to artificial light.

What else characterises this gemstone family? First of all, there is the excellent hardness of 7 to 7.5 on the Mohs scale. This applies, with minor variations, to all the members of the Garnet group. And this is also an explanation why these gemstones are so excellent to wear. Garnets are quite sturdy and resistant to everyday wear and tear, and uncomplicated to work into jewellery. Only to hard impact or uncontrolled heating they will react adversely. Another point in favour of Garnets is their high refraction of light, the reason for the amazing brilliance of Garnets. The shape of the rough crystal is also interesting. Garnet, after all, means something like "the grainy" and is derived from the Latin word "granum" meaning "grain". This refers to the typically rounded shape of Garnet and also reminds of the seeds of the pomegranate. In the middle ages, Garnet was also called "karfunkel" in German, referring to the glowing red reminding of the sparks of fire. Today there are a lot of imaginative names used in the trade, such as Arizona, Arizona Spinel, Montana or New Mexico.

The Garnet illuminated already Noahs Ark

Garnets have been widely known for thousands of years. Even Noah, it is reported, used a lantern from in order to safely steer his Ark through the darkness of the night. Garnets are found in jewellery from ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman eras. Many courageous discoverers and travellers wore Garnets for protection, as they were considered popular talismans and protective stones, because it was believed in those days that Garnets illuminate the night and prevent their wearer from any sort of evil. Today science explained to us that the proverbial luminosity of Garnet is caused by its high refraction of light.

Garnets come not only in many colours but also under many names: Andradite, Demantoid, Grossularite, Hessonite, Pyrope, Rhodolith, Tsavorith, Spessartine, Uwarowite etc.. Let us focus on the most important ones, and let us start with red Garnets. First of all, there is fiery red Pyrope. Its fierce and often slightly bronze coloured red was highly popular as gemstone colour in the 18th and 19th century. Worldwide renowned in those days were the Bohemian Garnets from an occurrence in the north-eastern part of the former Kingdom of Bohemia - small stones in a wonderful colour. In Europe they were frequently used for jewellery in Victorian times. This genuine Bohemian Garnet jewellery is traditionally decorated with many small stones which are tightly arranged along each other like the seeds of a pomegranate. Today Garnet is still found in the Czech Republic, and the stones are still arranged in the traditional way, tightly joined, so that the attraction of the classical Garnet jewellery is caused by the beauty of the stones only.

The large central stones of the typical "rosette" arrangements are usually also Garnets, but these come from another category. Almandines, named after the ancient gemstone city of Alabanda in Asia Minor, are c a little different in their chemical structure from Pyropes. Why these are preferred as central stones? Well, Nature only grows Pyropes in small sizes, but allows for Almandine in larger dimensions.

Another red Garnet variety is Rhodolith, a crystal mixture from Almandine and Pyrope This popular red Garnet shows a wonderful velvety red with a fine purple or raspberry coloured undertone. Originally discovered in the USA, it is mainly found in gemstone mines in East Africa, India and Sri Lanka nowadays.


Colourful World of Garnets

The fantastic found of an up to then extremely rare Garnet variety puzzled experts all over the world some years ago. On the Kunene river, on the border between Namibia and Angola, there was the surprising and spectacular discovery of bright orange to red Spessartine Garnets, which were originally named after their occurrence in the German Spessart mountains. Until the legendary mine was discovered in Namibia, Spessartines had existed as mere collectors items or rarities. They were hardly ever used for jewellery because they were so rare. But the found changed the world of jewellery gemstones. From this time on, an exceptionally fine and brightly orange-red gemstone has completed the offered range. The trade name "Mandarine -Garnet" was coined, and the wonderfully orange coloured Fine Garnet became world-famous almost over night. Unfortunately the mine in the remote Namibian mountains could only be exploited for a few years. Prospecting for the gemstones in the isolated bush land became more and more complicated and expensive It had to be expected, then, that the very upstart among the quality gemstones would only be available in limited amounts from the stocks of few cutters. However, another sensation was caused by discovering another occurrence of the orange-coloured treasures, this time in Nigeria. In colour and brilliance they are so similar to the Namibian stones that only experienced experts will be able to tell them apart.

And now let us focus on green Garnets. Green Garnets - do they really exist? Of course! There are even several known green Garnet varieties. First of all, there is Grossularite, which was created by Nature in many fine colours from yellow to green and brown, and which is especially cherished because of the many in-between shades. And earth-colours. Here there was also a sensational found: In the last year of the 20th century large Grossularite occurrences were discovered in Mali. The Mali Garnets are charming because of their high brilliance, which makes even the usually not so popular brown colour attractive and vivid, and the natural appeal is in wonderful harmony especially with ethno-look inspired trends.

Possibly the most famous green Garnet is Tsavorith or Tsavolith, another Grossularite. Tiffanys in New York re-named the stone which had been discovered in 1967 by British geologist Campbell R. Bridges in North-East Tanzania. The -green stone was named after its occurrence near the famous game park Tsavo-National Park. Tsavorith is of a vivid light to velvety deep green and, like all other Garnets, of strikingly high brilliance.

The star among green Garnets is rare Demantoid, a gemstone for connoisseurs and lovers. It shows enormous brilliance, higher even than that of Diamond. Russias leading court jeweller Carl Faberg?loved the brilliant green Garnet from the Urals more than any other stone, and liked to use it in his creations. Nowadays Demantoid turns up more often in the gemstone market because of the new founds in Namibia. Demantoids from Namibia show good colour and brilliance, however, they lack s minor characteristic: the so-called "horsetail-inclusions", fine bushy-shaped inclusions which are the characteristic birthmark identifying Russian Demantoids.

Gemstone Colours for each Fashion Trend

If you love the immaculate naturalness and sun-drenched warm colours of Indian summer, you will fall in love with range of colours displayed by Garnets. Today these stones come mainly from African countries, also from India, Russia, central and south America. The skilled hands of cutters all over the world shape them in many classical forms and more and more also in modern fancy designers cuts. Garnets appeal generally because of their natural and not manipulated beauty, their wide variety of colours and their magnificent brilliance. If you buy Garnet jewellery you can be certain to enjoy this gemstone gift from Nature permanently and without inhibitions.

Like fiery comets in the evening sky there appeared some ten years ago the first Mandarin Garnets in the gemstone trade. Experts and enthusiasts both agreed: the wonderful colours and excellent brilliance of the orange-red treasures are unique indeed. What kind of gemstones are they and where do they come from?

Just close your eyes and dream a little bit: Africa ¡K orange-red is the evening sky in the Northwest of Namibia, over quiet mountains and a lonely river. The next settlement is about nine hours away by car. The temperatures are extreme here: in summer, 40 to 50 degrees centigrade are the rule, while in winter temperatures drop to almost freezing point. Here, far away from any kind of civilisation the Kunene River has for centuries followed its route to along the border between Namibia and Angola through the mountains. This remote and isolated place, one of the last placed untouched by the modern world, is the place where in 1991 the first Mandarin Garnets were found. Embedded in mica and mica slate, at the very same location where they came into existence millions of years ago, there were discovered small of exceptional colour and transparency which gained the experts' attention. Gemmological tests proved that the first theories and speculations had been right: the orange-coloured stones were in fact variations of the rare Spessartine stones, members of the large and colourful Garnet-family. So far Spessartine had been found only in Sri Lanka, Upper Birma, Madagascar, Brazil and Australia as well as in Kenya and Tanzania, but they were rare stones for enthusiasts and collectors and had hardly been used for jewellery. The reason for this moderate situation was simple: they were offered only rarely in really good colour and quality in the gemstone mines. However, the spectacular from Namibia were of an exceptionally fine, intensively bright orange. Some even sparkled in a deep red-orange of the last rays of the light, when the sun has already set beyond the horizon. They were more beautiful and brilliant than anything available before. Almost no inclusions disturb the brilliant appearance of the "imperial garnets¡¨.

Very quickly the rough stones came on the market visa only few gemstone cutters. Mostly the stones were, as the facets best bring out their unique colour and brilliance. Unfortunately the mine on the Kunene River was soon exploited. In the beginning the stones were found there direct at the surface of the mines, but the excavations had to be taken deeper and deeper as time passed on. The results got less and less, while the costs kept increasing. So finally the mine gave up production. Further prospecting in the remote bush region of Namibia would have been far too expensive and too complicated. Traders and gemstone lovers both regretted very much that this gemstone which had managed so quickly to attract an enthusiastic group of fans was only available sparsely from stocks of only few cutters.

A real shooting star

The beautiful gemstone had in a short period of time managed to develop into a real shooting star in the international jewellery sector. There had been some minor disagreements about its name first among gemmologists and gemstone traders. Some called the brilliant orange to orange-red beauties first "Kunene Spessartine¡¨ according to their occurrence, other talked about "Hollandine¡¨. But quite soon the evocative denomination "Mandarin Garnet¡¨ spread throughout the international market. And thus the stone made its successful appearance all around the world. And this very fitting name has remained in use till today ¡V though, fortunately, the occurrence at the Kunene River has not remained the only one. About in April 1994 there appeared again orange-coloured stones on the market, this time from Nigeria. They resembled remarkably to those Mandarin Garnets from Namibia, although experienced experts would be able to note fine differences. Their occurrence is situated in the utmost Southwest of Nigeria, not far away from the neighbouring state of Benin. The mine is located in a former riverbed in the bush land. During the rain season pumps have to be employed in order to draw the water out of the mines. Garnet specialist Thomas Lind from Idar-Oberstein was enthusiastic about the attractively of the new stones: "From Nigeria some beautiful, bright orange Mandarin Garnets have been brought onto the market. Among them there are repeatedly stones which achieve sizes over one carat. We are delighted that they supplement the meanwhile stable offer on the market of this formerly so are stone.¡¨ Now Mandarin Garnet is available once again in reliable amounts, even though top quality stones remain rare.


Orange symbolises joy of life and individuality

What makes Mandarin Garnet so special? First of all there is, of course, its colour, this bright orange, sometimes with brown undertones, in all the range from the colour of ripe peaches to deepest red orange. These are colours which announce energy and joy of life, individuality and spirit of adventure. A person wearing orange has no inhibitions about being noticed, this colour signals self-confidence. It is unmistakably the colour for extroverted people. But there is more to orange than just that. For example, the colour orange plays a very important role in Asian arts, more important than in European art. Asian gods are often dressed in orange robes, and even the sky may be painted orange. Yellow and red, the two colours constituting orange, are not considered opposites in Asia but rather complement each other. Orange is also the colour for the robes of Buddhist monks, cut from a single piece of cloth. Here orange symbolises the change all life is subjected to. Any existence is understood as permanent process of reciprocity between the active male Yang principle and the passive female Yin. Again, both principles are no opposites, but they keep on changing and continually influence each other. Life means change ¡V and orange symbolises this permanent change better than any other colour.

Besides its wonderful colour, however, Mandarin Garnet has additional advantages which make it a truly unique gemstone. On the one hand there is its good hardness. It is an uncomplicated gemstone and makes ideal companion for any situation or event. On the other hand it has a remarkably high refraction of light lending it an exceptional brilliance. Even in unfavourable light conditions small, brilliant cut and inclusion-free Mandarin garnets will sparkle vividly. And in addition there is its rarity. Nobody can predict how long it will ¡V as currently ¡V remain available in reliable quantities. Colour, brilliance, hardness and rarity make this beautiful and easy-to-care-for gemstone something special indeed. Thus on seeing it, individualists with strong sense of style will exclaim: this is my stone!



Tourmaline

Black Tourmaline:purification, Protection
Pink Tourmaline:Love, Emotional healing
Rubellite (Red Tourmaline):Alignment of the individual and Universal heart, Healing the heart and the emotions, Rekindling one's passion for life
Green Tourmaline:Healing, Strength, Vitality, Wholeness
Watermelon Tourmaline:Calm, Joy
Blue Tourmaline (Indicolite):Higher awareness, communication
Golden Tourmaline:Will, Confidence, Inner strength
Dravite (Brown Tourmaline):Self-acceptance, Self-healing, Bringing the shadow self to consciousness, Self-love
Tourmalined Quartz:Purification, Recovery from negative influences

Tourmalines are precious stones displaying a unique splendour of colours. According to an ancient Egyptian legend this is the result of the fact that on the long way from the Earths heart up towards the sun, Tourmaline travelled along a rainbow. And on its way it collected all the colours of the rainbow. This is why nowadays it is called the "Rainbow gemstone".


However, the name "Tourmaline" has been derived from the Singhalese expression "tura mali", which translates as "stone of mixed colours". The very name already refers to the unique spectrum of colours displayed by this gemstone, which is second to none in the realm of precious stones. Tourmalines are red and green, range from blue to yellow. Often they show two or more colours and are cherished for this parti- or multi-coloured appearance. There are Tourmalines which change their colour from daylight to artificial light, others display chattoyance. No Tourmaline exactly resembles another one: this gemstone shows many faces and is thus excellently suited to match all moods and tempers. It does not come as a surprise, then, that ever since ancient days it has been attributed with magical powers. Tourmaline is supposed to be an especially powerful influence on love and friendship, lending them permanence and stability.


In order to understand this multitude of colours you will have to polish up your knowledge of gemmology: Tourmalines are mixed of complex aluminium-borosilicate varying in their composition. The slightest changes in composition will result in completely different colours. In fact, showing one colour only are quite rare; generally one and the same crystal displays several shades and colours. Not only the wide range of colours characterises this gemstone, it also shows a remarkable dichroism. Depending on the angle of view the colour will be different or at least show different intensity. The deepest colour always appears along the main axis, a fact that the gemstone cutter has to keep in mind when cutting the stone. This gemstone is excellently suited for wearing and is uncomplicated to care for, since all Tourmalines show a hardness of 7 to 7.5 on the Mohs scale. Thus Tourmaline is an interesting gemstone in many aspects indeed.


The different shades of colour have been assigned different names in the trade. For example, deep red Tourmaline is named "Rubellite", provided it shows the same fine -red shade in daylight and in artificial light. Should the colour change when the source of light changes, the stone will be called a "Pink Tourmaline". Blue Tourmalines are called "Indigolith", "Dravite" is a golden-brown to dark brown Tourmaline, and black Tourmalines are known as "Schorl". The latter stone is mainly used for engravings and in esotericism, where it is highly cherished because it is reputed to ward off harmful radiation from its wearer.

Pink Tourmaline
The color pink is associated with love and other matters of the heart, and pink tourmaline is the quintessential heart-chakra stone. It is a representative of the feminine, or yin energies. It is unsurpassed as a gemstone aid in healing old emotional wounds, particularly those of childhood. It emanates a soft, soothing energy that engenders feelings of comfort, safety and nurturance. In meditation, one should hold or place a pink tourmaline upon the heart chakra, visualizing a pink light radiating from the stone and ultimately encompassing the body in a pink cloud or bubble. This will infuse the entire emotional body with love and can restore a sense of wholeness.

Pink Tourmaline can be used to repair 'holes' in the auric field created by negative attachments or past abuse. Wearing or carrying a pink tourmaline crystal or gem through the day can assist one in releasing stress, worries, depression and anxiety. These crystals can help the emotionally 'numb' recover their passion and zest for life. They strengthen the link between the heart and crown chakras, opening the pathway for infusion of the heart with the highest Divine energies. They can help the timid find the courage to love, and they can increase the trait of gentleness in most individuals. Wearing Pink Tourmaline turns one into a beacon of its loving and healing energies, making it more difficult for others to project negativity in one's direction and often influencing them towards greater kindness and tolerance.

Pink Tourmaline supports emotional healing and the activation of the heart chakra. It stimulates feelings of joy, happiness and  relaxation. Due to its high lithium content, it is a powerful calming stone that can calm the emotions and the physical body. It is a partner to Black Tourmaline in relieving stress and diffusing worry or obsessive behavior. In meditation, Pink Tourmaline can aid in clearing and purifying the emotional body. It helps identify emotional patterns no longer aligned with one's spiritual growth and can assist in changing these patterns to reflect higher approaches to relationship and communication.

Pink Tourmaline is an excellent stone for children-particularly the spiritually sensitive 'Indigos'-because it provides a centering, calming energy that can assist them in considering consequence and karma before taking action.


SPIRITUAL   Pink Tourmaline activates the high-heart center and one's ability to surrender to Love. It helps one find strength in vulnerability and feel joy in all one's learning experiences.

EMOTIONAL   Pink Tourmaline is a powerful emotional imbalance and cleanser. It is one of the strongest stones for alleviating stress and the emotional imbalances that can stem from that state. It is a powerful stone for children, especially when hyperactivity or difficulty sleeping is an issue.

PHYSICAL   Pink Tourmaline helps calm and soothe the heart, assisting with angina, irregular heartbeat and recovery from heart attack. It is useful in balancing brain biochemistry to help promote a balanced mental state.


Very popular is "Verdelith", the green Tourmaline, however, if its fine -like green is caused by traces of chromium, the stone is named "Chromium-Tourmaline". But the outstanding highlight among Tourmalines is of course Paraiba Tourmaline, a gemstone showing a vivid deep blue to bluish green, found for the first time in1987 in the mines of the Brazilian state of Paraiba. In good qualities these stones are much coveted treasures. Since yellow Tourmalines from Malawi of brilliant colour have been offered on the market, the formerly missing colour yellow has been added in excellent quality to the apparently unlimited range of colours shown by the "Rainbow Gemstone".


These are by no means all the names Tourmaline has achieved: there still have to be mentioned bi-coloured and multi-coloured Tourmalines Very popular are also slices cut as cross-sections through Tourmalines, as these will render the full splendour of colours embedded in a specific Tourmaline. For example, such slices taken from Tourmalines with red heart and green border are called a "Watermelon-Tourmaline"; slices with a clear heart and a black border are called "Moors head Tourmaline".

Tourmalines are mined everywhere in the world. There are important occurrences in Brazil, in Sri Lanka and South and Southwest Africa. Other occurrences are situated in Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique and Madagascar, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Tourmalines are also found in the USA, first of all in Maine and Utah. But although there are rich occurrences of Tourmalines all over the world, good qualities and fine colours are only rarely offered on the market. Therefore, then, the price range achieved by Tourmaline almost matches its wide range of colours.



  • $8650

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