3.6" Impressive Almandine Garnets in Schist - Italy

Impressive Almandine Garnets in Schist - Italy #352083

This is an impressive, 3.6" wide specimen featuring four exposed, deep-maroon colored almandine garnets within a schist matrix. It was collected from the famous Passo del Rombo of Tyrol, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy, a location well known for its large and fascinating garnet specimens. The facets on the garnets have been buffed and polished following the meticulous prep to expose them from their schist matrix.

The largest garnet measures 2.3" wide across its longest measurement. This site is no longer safe to mine so these specimens will quickly become more scarce provided mining doesn't recommence. One edge of the schist has been cut flat for presentation.

Garnets are nesosilicates with the general formula X3Y2(SiO4)3. Garnets come in many species, including pyrope, almandine (the most common species), spessartine, uvarovite, andradite and grossular, varieties of which are hessonite, cinnamon-stone, and tsavorite. Garnets are found in a wide variety of colors including red, orange, yellow, green, purple, brown, blue, black, pink, and colorless, though reddish shades are the most common.

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