Mineral Collection Images

My Mineral Collection, Grossular Garnets Page

This is my grossular garnet collection.
Grossular Info
Grossulars come in many different colors, the widest range of all the garnets - some have varietal names: californite - massive green grossular mixed with vesuvianite hessonite (essonite or cinnamon stone) - dark orange to brown (I don't make this distinction here.) hydrogrossular - partially hydroxified grossular (hydrogen replaces silicon). The series runs from hydrogrossular, through hibschite, to katoite. Katoite has been synthesized with all the silicon replaced by hydrogen. Merelani - mint green (named after the Merelani Hills of Tanzania, the same locale that produces most of the tanzanite (and tsavorite). [Photo courtesy of H Lock Corporation Premium Rough Gems] . Transvaal Jade - massive green African chrome grossular, usually cabbed or freeformed tsavorite (tsavolite, the preferred European name) - deep green. Tsavorite's color comes from vanadium as well as chromium. viluites - olive-green (from the Wilui River basin, Sakha Republic (Yakutia), northeast Siberia, Russia). Near the bottom of this page is a ferrian grossular - grossular forms a complete series with andradite. Pure grossular garnet is colorless. The Mexican grossulars with dark centers should be considered "mixed" garnets - most of their centers are dark andradites. The green garnets from the Thetford Mines in Quebec, Canada are now considered by many to be uvarovite, or at least a grossular-uvarovite hybrid, whereas the Jeffrey Mine and others are mostly grossular with a chromium-induced tint, "chrome grossular". There is more or less a complete series between grossular and uvarovite - the end members are separated more by location and environment than by color. The grossulars from the Orford nickel mines (in St. Denis-de-Brompton, Quebec, Canada) might, in my opinion, be colored by nickel instead of chromium - their green is a bit bluer than the chrome grossulars.
Garnets on Other Pages
See my other garnet pages; almandines, andradites, pyropes (and misc. garnets), spessartines, and uvarovites Also, see my other nesosilicates

24 Rows
Grossular These grossulars in a wollastonite matrix are from Sierra Del Cruce in Coahuila, Mexico. Some of the raspberry grossulars have black andradite centers (larger image, bottom right). The raspberry color is caused by manganese, which places them in the incomplete series between grossular and spessartine. Thanks to Brett Shafer at The Mineral Vug for the specimen!	Grossular Another grossular (the pink ones are called rosolite) - this one's from Lake Jaco, Chihuahua, MX and is about three inches in diameter! Like a lot of grossulars from Mexico, this one also is concentrically zoned (see closeup in larger picture). There's also some host phosphorescent barite! Thanks to Chris Korpi at Pangaea Minerals for the specimen!	Grossular This grossular's also from Mexico and is about half the size of the pink one. I bought it at the 1999 Carnegie Gem and Mineral Show.
Row 2
Grossular The orange to brown colors of grossular are referred to as hessonite. These are on a chlorite matrix with some diopside and chlorite crystals from Val D'Osta, Italy. Thanks to Rick Green atUniquely Crystalline for the specimen and the image!	Grossular This color grossular is often called "cinnamon stone". Most of these are too heavily fractured to cut. This one's from Riverside County in California. Thanks to MINERALMINERS.COM for the specimen and the image! Image copyrighted by mineralminers.com	Grossular This light yellow grossular garnet is from Arizona.
Row 3
Grossular More hessonites - these are from Vesper Peak in Snohomish County, Washington. Thanks to Olympic Mountain Gems, Inc. for the specimen and the image!	Grossular Another hessonite cluster from Riverside County in California - this is darker brown than the one above. Thanks to Gary Lozonne at Lozonne's Minerals for the specimen and the image!	Grossular A couple of single hessonites from that same quarry in Riverside - very lustrous faces and the internal fracturing just adds color! Here's a closeup shot of the one on the right. Thanks to Gary Lozonne at Lozonne's Minerals for the specimens!
Row 4
	Grossular Another green grossular. this one an emerald green, from the Jeffrey Mine near Asbestos, Québec, Canada. Thanks to Doug Miller at Northern Lights Minerals for the specimen and the image!	Grossular Yes, that's really the color! This wild pink grossular cluster's from Sierra de la Cruz, Cohuila, Mexico - the same place as the famous raspberry ones. Thanks to Dan Wienrich at Dan & Jill Weinrich for the specimen and the image!
Row 5
Grossular More grossulars from Sierra de Cruces, Coahuila, Mexico - these are a combination of pale chartreuse and pale lavender. Thanks to Rick Green at Uniquely Crystalline for the specimen and the images!	Grossular The Jeffrey Asbestos Mine in Quebec, Canada was the home of these beautiful peach grossulars. This specimen is from John Betts' own collection. Thanks to John Betts at John Betts - Fine Minerals for the specimen and the image!	Grossular There's green chlorite and colorless diopside spears among these beautiful clear red hessonites from Val di Susa, Italy. Thanks to Greg Holland at the Stone Haven Mineral Shoppe for the specimen and the images!
Row 6
Grossular These gemmy tetragonal deep-honey colored garnets cover about 95% of the top surface in this specimen from the famous Jeffrey Quarry near Asbestos, Quebec, Canada. Thanks to Emilie & Ron Kendig's auction on eBay for the specimen and the image!	Grossular A great example of clear peach grossular garnet crystals reaching over 1/4 inch in diameter also from the Jeffrey Quarry. The white matrix glows a bright light yellow under longwave UV. Thanks to Brian McManus's (Pebble Peddler) auction on eBay for the specimen and the image!	Grossular More grossulars from the Jeffrey Quarry - this is a thumbnail cluster of champagnes. Thanks to Emilie & Ron Kendig's auction on eBay for the specimen!
Row 7
Grossular This hessonite cluster is from Havilah, Kern County, California. Thanks to Jeff Schlot at Crystal Perfection for the specimen!	Grossular Another hessonite - this one's from the Pitts-Tenney Mine in Minot, Maine. Thanks to Dennis Brown's auction on eBay for the specimen and the image!	Grossular More raspberry grossulars from Sierra de la Cruz, Sierra Mojada, Coahuila, Mexico. These (and the next) are also in the usual wollastonite matrix. Thanks to Anne and Charles Steuart's auction on eBay for the specimen!
Row 8
Grossular These raspberry grossulars contrast with yellow vesuvianite - a common occurence at this same Mexican locale. The color is redder than appears here - see the larger picture (right). Thanks to Anne & Charles Steuart's auction on eBay for the specimen and the image!	Grossular This beautiful red grossular on diopside comes from Mt. Belvidere, Eden Mills, Vermont. Thanks to Mike Keim at Marin Minerals for the specimen and the image!	Grossular A cute little hessonite crystal (either twinned or parallel growth, it's hard to tell) - no label but probably from the Jeffrey Quarry again. There's something at the base that fluoresces yellow. Thanks to Adam Larson's auction on eBay for the specimen!
Row 9
Grossular Beautiful red-orange hessonites spill down this specimen from the Val D'Ala, Piemont, Italy. Thanks to Veronica Matthew's auction on eBay for the specimen!	Grossular These red grossulars with green chlorite are from Bric Camula, Cogoleto, Genova, Italy. Thanks to Chris Korpi at Pangaea Minerals for the specimen!	Grossular I love the garnets from the Jeffrey Quarry - these, as do the next ones, have very fine (and very close together) striations on their faces. Thanks to Mike Shell's auction on eBay for the specimen!
Row 10
Grossular More of the same - this cluster's smaller and a little lighter and yellower. Thanks to Mike Shell's auction on eBay for the specimen!	Grossular This hessonite's also from the Pitts-Tenney Quarry. It has about a half dozen cinnamon garnets protruding from a garnet, diopsite, calcite, and quartz matrix. Thanks to Dennis Brown's auction on eBay for the specimen!	Grossular This specimen from the famous Eden Mills area in Vermont is a mixture of honey-colored grossular and pale green tremolite crystals. The largest garnet measures 3/8 inch across a face. These crystals are very complex, including parallel growths and stacking of elongated crystals. Thanks to Emilie & Ron Kendig's auction on eBay for the specimen!
Row 11
Grossular More hessonite from Val D'Ala, Piemont, Italy - these are so red and clear! There's also some green chlorite present. Thanks to Veronica Matthew's auction on eBay for the specimen!	Grossular A very nice cluster of red hessonite from Zacatecas, Mexico - the crystal faces are strongly concave! My picture (right) in the larger image shows them to be much redder. Thanks to Kevin MacNelly's (Geodeland) auction on eBay for the specimen and image!	Grossular More garnets from Bishop, California - along with the grossulars, there's green diopside (after hornblende) and white diopside. Thanks to Chris Korpi at Pangaea Minerals for the specimen!
Row 12
Grossular Another red grossular from Zacatecas, Mexico - this one's a much deeper red. Thanks to Kevin MacNelly's (Geodeland) auction on eBay for the specimen!	Grossular California hessonites - these tangerine ones are at one end of the hessonite spectrum. Thanks to Frank Butler's auction on eBay for the specimen!	Grossular Another Eden Mills, Vermont grossular - this one's a beautiful dark orange. Thanks to Mike Keim at Marin Minerals for the specimen and the image!
Row 13
Grossular More Jeffrey Quarry grossulars - these are a bit more pink than orange. Thanks to Margaret's (Lidco) auction on eBay for the specimen!	Grossular Another Lake Jaco, Mexico grossular - small but nice! Thanks to Walter Mroch's (The Gem and Mineral Exploration Company) auction for the specimen!	Grossular One more Eden Mills grossular - an intergrown pair that's a little lighter and brighter than my my other two. Thanks to Mike Keim at Marin Minerals for the specimen and the image!
Row 14
Grossular Very pale green grossulars from Wah Wah Pass, Beaver County, Utah. Thanks to Walter Mroch's (The Gem and Mineral Exploration Company) auction for the specimen and the image!	Grossular A beautiful peach grossular cluster thumbnail from the Jeffrey Quarry. Thanks to Kevin MacNelly's (Geodeland) auction on eBay for the specimen!	Grossular An assortment of California tangerine grossulars - from single crystal to massive. Thanks to Frank Butler for the specimens!
Row 15
Grossular Drusy Eden Mills orange grossulars. Thanks to James K. Andersen's auction on eBay for the specimen!	Grossular This is a really fascinating and beautiful speciment from Turmiq Tal, Skardu, Pakistan. There's brownish-green partially (edges) transparent grossulars, medium green epidotes, yellowish-green titanites, and dark-green chlorites. At least two of the smaller garnets are mildly magnetic! Thanks to Greg Holland at the Stone Haven Mineral Shoppe for the specimen!	Grossular on Hematite From the famous Wessels Mine, Hotazel, South Africa - hematite coated with microscopic grossular crystals. Thanks to Anne & Charles Steuart's auction on eBay for the specimen and image!
Row 16
Grossular These hessonites come from the mountains of North Carolina - some of them have a second garnet coating. Thanks to Mike Streeter's auction on eBay for the specimen!	Grossular Green (yes, green) grossulars from Belvidere, Mt, Lowell, Eden Mills, Vermont! These are somewhat gemmy and the green is symmetrically zoned in some of them. The color ranges from almost colorless to a nice emerald green. Thanks to Tom Klinepeter's auction on eBay for the specimen!	Grossular A group of deep red grossulars from Turmiq, Skardu, Pakistan - there's also a terminated partially transparent (closeup) diopside crystal. Thanks to Greg Holland at the Stone Haven Mineral Shoppe for the specimen!
Row 17
Grossular Beautiful bright green grossulars from the Thetford Mine in Quebec, Canada. There's also some pale green druzy andradite (larger picture, bottom right). Thanks to SoCal Nevada's auction on eBay for the specimen and images! Thanks also to Gilles Poulin for the identification of the andradite druze!	Grossular Cloudy deep orange grossulars share a talc matrix with green stacked arrays of chlorite in this miniature from San Andreas, Calaveras Co., California. Thanks to Tom Lettier and Ken Balthazor's (The California Crystal Connection) auction on eBay for the specimen!	Grossular Tiny light green grossulars on light green diopside from the Lowell Mine, Eden Mills, Vermont. Thanks to Dennis Brown's auction on eBay for the specimen!
Row 18
Grossulars Five bright orange gemmy Eden Mills grossulars - I wish these were fist-sized! Thanks to Bob York's auction on eBay for the specimen!	Grossular on Pectolite A rare frosty colorless grossular on colorless pectolite needles from the Jeffrey Mine, Asbestos, Quebec. Thanks to Tim Jokela, Jr. at Element 51 for the specimen!	Grossular Bright clean orange Eden Mills grossulars on sage green diopside. Thanks to Jeff & Gloria's table at the 2000 Carnegie Gem & Mineral Show for the specimen!
Row 19
Grossular Vermilion grossulars on a matrix with green diopside from Eden Mills, Vermont. Thanks to Tom Klinepeter's auction on eBay for the specimen!	Grossular Approximately two inches on an edge, this excellent orangey-tan hessonite (the larger image includes its "baby cousin") comes from the Pitts and Tenney Mine, Minot, Maine. Thanks to Jim Leeman's auction on eBay for the specimen!	Grossular Clear lavender-pink grossulars on a chromium diopside and massive chromium grossular matrix from the Jeffrey Quarry, Asbestos, Quebec, Canada. Thanks to Keith Hayes' (KQ's Minerals) auction on eBay for the specimen and the image!
Row 20
Grossular on Diopside An excellent thumbnail of champagne grossulars on a beautifully-terminated forest green diopside crystal from Bald Mountain, Jefferson Co., Montana. The diopside tip is even a little translucent (larger image, bottom). Thanks to Lanny Ream's auction on eBay for the specimen!	Grossular Nevada has grossulars as well as their more famous spessartines - they just aren't marketed as well. This miniature of translucent red grossulars comes from the Great Basin Mine in Nye County, Nevada. Thanks to Tom & Vicki Loomis at Dakota Matrix Minerals for the specimen and the image!	Grossular A nice cluster of greenish-yellow grossulars from Chihuahua, Mexico - some of them are transparent arount the edges and there are clusters of almost microscopic ones on the back. Thanks to Tom Taaffe's auction on eBay for the specimen!
Row 21
Grossular A 4" x 2" plate of colorless to light yellow grossulars from the Lowell Mine in Eden Mills, Vermont (1997) - there's one sharp mint-green one (larger image, bottom panel) on the edge. Thanks to Dennis Gross' auction on eBay for the specimen!	Grossular A cluster of bright tangerine grossulars from Afghanistan. Thanks to SoCal Nevada's auction on eBay for the specimen and images!	Grossular Excellent sharp sage green grossulars from the town of Lake Jaco, Chihuahua, Mexico. Thanks to Eric Greene's (Treasure Mountain Mining) auction on eBay for the specimen and the images!
Row 22
Grossular A big (for the locale) gemmy tangerine grossular from the Jeffrey Mine, Asbestos, Quebec, Canada. Thanks to Mike Keim at Marin Minerals for the specimen and the image!	Grossular A thumbnail cluster of bright vermilion grossulars from the Ted Mine in Gilgit, Pakistan. Thanks to Mike Keim at Marin Minerals for the specimen and the images!	Grossular More Jeffrey Quarry grossulars - these were collected decades ago by the now famous Canadian jeweller Bob Alyer. The bottom right panel of the larger image shows a trigonal tetradodecahedron crystal - each rhomb of a typical dodecahedron has a four-sided pyramid on it. I've never seen this modification before (or described anywhere)! Thanks to Jean-Rene Drapeau's auction on eBay for the specimen and images!
Row 23
Ferrian Grossular An excellent small cabinet of ferrian grossulars from the 2009 find in the Nightingale District in Pershing County, Nevada. These have been analytically confirmed to show a moderate Fe+3 replacement of aluminum. Thanks to Tony Nikischer at the Excalibur Mineral Company for the specimen!	Californite Californite (or "American Jade") is a mixture of green grossular and vesuvianite (idocrase) - it's often made into cabochons. Most californite comes from the famous Crestmore Quarry near Riverside, California. Thanks to Walter Mroch's (The Gem and Mineral Exploration Company) auction for the specimen!	Hydrogrossular This beautiful slab was sold to me as hydrogrossular - it looks more like californite but it's from the state of Washington. The larger image shows the slab (bottom row left) back and front-lit and (right) only backlit. Thanks to Christie & Chuck's Stone Roses auction on eBay for the specimen and image!
Row 24
Grossular This small cabinet specimen of grossular on diopside comes from the Orford nickel mines (in St. Denis-de-Brompton, Quebec, Canada). I think the colorant here is nickel in addition to chromium. Some of the grossulars are a bit bluer. Thanks to Eric Greene's (Treasure Mountain Mining) auction on eBay for the specimen! Thanks also to Gilles Poulin for the matrix identification!	Grossular, var. Transvaal Jade This miniature of massive (hydro)grossular is from the Transvaal, 40 miles west of Pretoria, Republic of South Africa. The dark veins are chromite. Jewelers call this "Transvaal Jade." Thanks to Thomas Bee's auction on eBay for the specimen!	Grossular, var. Viluite This olive-green grossular is from the Wilui River basin in Siberia, Russia. It's such a distinctive color that these are often called viluites (not to be confused with deep green wiluite, a sorosilicate of the vesuvianite group, found in association). Thanks to Lawrence Depkin at the Appalachian Mineral Company for the specimen and the image! Image copyrighted by the Appalachian Mineral Company.

maintained by: Alan Guisewite

Last Update 6 Mar 2011