Uvarovite Garnet
Calcium chromium silicate (Ca3Cr2(SiO4)3)
The rare calcium-chromium garnet, famous for its sparkling emerald-green druzy crusts of tiny crystals, the only consistently green garnet.
- Mohs hardness
- 6.5-7.5
- Color
- Vivid emerald to deep green
- Type
- mineral
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Overview
Uvarovite is the rarest of the common garnet end-members and the only garnet that is always green, owing to its essential chromium content. It typically occurs as small, brilliant emerald-green crystals rather than large gems.
Because crystals are usually tiny, uvarovite is most often seen as sparkling druzy crusts lining cavities in chromium-bearing rock — a popular form for jewelry and specimens.
Named after Russian statesman Count Sergei Uvarov, it was first described from the Ural Mountains.
Formation & geology
Uvarovite forms in chromium-rich rocks, especially in serpentinites and chromite deposits, where calcium-bearing fluids react with chromium during metamorphism and alteration. The chromium that colors it green is sourced from the chromite ore.
It typically lines fractures and cavities as drusy coatings of small crystals.
Classic localities include the Ural Mountains of Russia (Saranovskii mine), Finland (Outokumpu), Canada (Quebec), and Spain, all associated with chromite deposits.
How to identify it
Uvarovite is identified by its consistent vivid emerald-green color and habit of small sparkling crystals or druzy crusts.
- Hardness: 6.5-7.5.
- Crystal system: isometric; singly refractive.
- Streak: white.
- Luster: vitreous; crystals are typically tiny dodecahedra.
Distinguish from green grossular (tsavorite) and demantoid, which form larger facetable crystals; uvarovite almost always appears as micro-crystalline green druzy. Its association with chromite-bearing host rock is a useful clue.
Uses & significance
Because facetable crystals are exceedingly rare, uvarovite is used mostly as druzy in jewelry — its sparkling green crusts are set into rings, pendants, and earrings as natural 'glitter.'
It is highly prized by mineral collectors for fine specimens of bright green crystals on matrix.
Uvarovite has no industrial use. Metaphysical traditions associate it with the heart and abundance, a traditional rather than scientific attribution.
Frequently asked questions
What is uvarovite?
It is the calcium-chromium end-member of the garnet group, the only garnet that is always green, colored by chromium.
Why is uvarovite usually small?
Uvarovite rarely forms large crystals; it typically occurs as tiny crystals in sparkling druzy crusts lining cavities in chromium-rich rock.
Can uvarovite be faceted?
Very rarely. Facetable crystals are extremely scarce, so it is most often used as druzy in jewelry or kept as mineral specimens.
Where is uvarovite found?
In chromite deposits in the Ural Mountains of Russia, Finland, Canada, and Spain.
Uvarovite Garnet guides
In-depth guides for identifying, valuing, and understanding Uvarovite Garnet.
