Green Garnet Identification Guide
A practical guide to identifying green garnets such as tsavorite, demantoid, and uvarovite by hardness, habit, density, and lack of cleavage.
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What Green Garnet Looks Like
"Green garnet" covers several species: tsavorite and other grossular (yellowish to vivid green), demantoid (andradite) with intense fire, and uvarovite (deep emerald-green, usually as tiny crystals). Colors run from mint and yellowish green to rich chrome-green. Stones are transparent to translucent with a bright vitreous to sub-adamantine luster (demantoid is especially brilliant).
Crystal Habit
- Equant dodecahedra (12 rhombic faces) or trapezohedra, sometimes in combination
- Uvarovite forms small druzy crystals on chromite-bearing matrix
- No prismatic or elongated form—garnets are blocky and rounded
Step-by-Step Field-ID Checklist
- Look for the rounded, many-faced blocky crystal—the classic dodecahedron is a strong garnet sign.
- Test hardness: garnet scratches glass and quartz readily.
- Check for cleavage: garnet has none—broken surfaces are conchoidal/uneven.
- Heft it: garnets feel notably heavy for their size.
- Look for fire (demantoid): strong rainbow dispersion suggests andradite demantoid.
Key Diagnostic Tests
- Mohs hardness: 6.5–7.5 (grossular/tsavorite ~7–7.5; andradite ~6.5–7)
- Streak: white
- Cleavage/fracture: no cleavage; conchoidal to uneven fracture
- Specific gravity: ~3.5–3.9 (demantoid up to ~3.85); high density is diagnostic
- Optics: isometric, singly refractive (no doubling) — separates it from doubly refractive look-alikes
- Non-magnetic; no acid reaction
Common Look-Alikes and How to Tell Them Apart
- Emerald / green beryl: Beryl is doubly refractive, forms hexagonal prisms, and is less dense. Garnet is singly refractive and blockier.
- Peridot: Peridot shows strong doubling of facets and is softer (6.5–7); demantoid has even higher fire and is singly refractive.
- Chrome diopside: Has good cleavage in two directions and is softer (5.5–6.5); garnet has no cleavage.
- Green tourmaline: Strongly pleochroic, doubly refractive, with rounded-triangular crystals.
- Green glass: Bubbles and swirl marks; no crystal faces and lower density.
Where Green Garnet Is Found
Tsavorite grossular comes from Kenya and Tanzania; demantoid from Russia (Urals), Namibia, and Iran; uvarovite from Russia, Finland, and Canada in chromite deposits. Garnets also occur widely in metamorphic schists and skarns.
Frequently asked questions
How can you tell if it's real green garnet?
Real green garnet is hard (6.5–7.5), dense (SG ~3.5–3.9), has no cleavage with conchoidal fracture, a white streak, and is singly refractive so back facets do not appear doubled.
What is the difference between green garnet and emerald?
Emerald (beryl) forms hexagonal prisms, is doubly refractive, and less dense, while green garnet forms blocky dodecahedra, is singly refractive, and feels heavier.
What does green garnet look like?
It is a transparent to translucent green stone, mint to chrome-green, typically a rounded twelve-sided crystal with a bright glassy luster and high luster on faceted gems.
What are the types of green garnet?
The main green garnets are tsavorite and other green grossular, demantoid (a green andradite known for its fire), and uvarovite, which is a deep green chromium garnet.
Green garnet vs peridot: how do I tell them apart?
Peridot shows obvious doubling of back facets and is softer, while green garnet is singly refractive (no doubling) and harder and denser.