Melanite Garnet

Melanite is the black, titanium-bearing variety of andradite garnet — its name comes from the Greek 'melas,' meaning black. It is essentially the gem-trade name for black andradite garnet.

Melanite takes a high, almost resinous-to-sub-adamantine polish, giving deep black stones a lustrous sparkle that made it popular in 19th-century jewelry. As titanium content increases, melanite grades toward the related mineral schorlomite.

It forms well-defined isometric crystals, often as glossy black dodecahedra prized by collectors.

Melanite crystallizes in silica-undersaturated alkaline igneous rocks such as nepheline syenites, phonolites, and related volcanics, as well as in some skarns and contact-metamorphosed limestones. Its titanium content reflects the titanium-rich, alkali magmas in which it grows.

Well-formed crystals occur in volcanic ejecta and cavities.

Classic localities include the Alban Hills and Vesuvius area of Italy, the Kaiserstuhl in Germany, the French Pyrenees (pyreneite), and various alkaline complexes in Russia and the USA.

Melanite is identified by its opaque black color, brilliant luster, and isometric, singly refractive garnet character, often as sharp dodecahedral crystals.

• Hardness: 6.5-7.
• Streak: white to grayish.
• No cleavage; conchoidal fracture.

Distinguish from schorl (black tourmaline), which is doubly refractive with striated prisms, and from black spinel. Melanite's crystal form, high luster, and single refraction are key. It is chemically and visually nearly identical to 'black garnet,' which is the same material.

Melanite is faceted and polished for jewelry, valued for its lustrous deep black; like other black garnets it featured in Victorian mourning pieces and is used today in bold, dark gemstone designs.

It is a favorite of mineral collectors for its glossy black crystals on matrix, and titanium-rich material is of scientific interest as it grades to schorlomite.

Melanite has no major industrial use. Metaphysical lore links it to protection and resilience, a traditional belief.