Spessartine

Spessartine garnet; image credit Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com

Description

Spessartine

A Garnet composed of manganese aluminum silicate. The color of spessartine may range from an orange-yellow to brownish-red. Gem quality stones are mined in Germany, Malagasy Republic, India, and the United States (Colorado and Maine). Historically, spessartine gemstones are rare but a few have been found dating to the 2nd and 3rd century BCE (Odgen 1982).

Synonyms and Related Terms

garnet; spessartite; espesartina (Esp;); Spessartin (Deut.); spessartien (Ned.)

IR-ATR (RRUFF)

Raman (RRUFF)

Raman (RASMIN)

Physical and Chemical Properties

• Fracture = conchoidal
• Luster = vitreous to resinous
• Streak = colorless
• Fluorescence = inert
• Birefringence = none

Composition	3MnO-Al2O3-3SiO2
Mohs Hardness	7.0 - 7.5
Density	4.15 g/ml
Refractive Index	1.800-1.810
Dispersion	0.0 (fire not visible)

Comparisons

Properties of Common Gemstones

Resources and Citations

• Jack Ogden, Jewelry of the Ancient World, Rizzoli International Publications, New York, 1982.

• Mineralogy Database: Spessartine

• G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 354

• Encyclopedia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com Comment: "spessartine." Accessed 20 Sept. 2005 .

• C.W.Chesterman, K.E.Lowe, Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Rocks and Minerals, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1979

• Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997

• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998