Uvarovite Garnet Identification Guide
How to identify uvarovite, the rare emerald-green chromium garnet, by its vivid color, tiny crystals, and chromite host, and tell it from green look-alikes.
Read the full Uvarovite Garnet encyclopedia entry →
What Uvarovite Looks Like
Uvarovite is the emerald-green chromium garnet - the only consistently green garnet whose color comes from chromium. It forms small, brilliant, vivid green dodecahedral crystals, usually in drusy crusts coating fractures in chromite-bearing serpentinite. Individual crystals are typically tiny (a few millimeters), so uvarovite is famous more as sparkling green druzy than as cuttable gems. Luster is vitreous to sub-adamantine; transparency ranges from transparent to translucent in the deep green crystals.
Step-by-Step Field-ID Checklist
- Look at the color. Intense, pure emerald-to-grass-green is the hallmark; uvarovite is rarely pale.
- Note the habit. Small sparkling dodecahedra forming a druse on dark host rock.
- Check the host. Almost always on chromite/serpentinite (dark green-black matrix).
- Confirm garnet form. Isometric crystals, no cleavage.
- Hardness test. Scratches glass; not scratched by steel.
- Feel the density - high for a silicate.
Key Diagnostic Tests
- Mohs hardness: ~6.5-7.5.
- Streak: White.
- Cleavage/fracture: No cleavage; conchoidal to uneven fracture.
- Magnetism: Generally non-magnetic (the chromite host may be weakly magnetic).
- Acid: No reaction.
- Density: ~3.4-3.8 g/cm3.
Common Look-Alikes
- Tsavorite/green grossular & demantoid (andradite): Other green garnets, but they form larger gem crystals and lack the characteristic tiny druse on chromite; uvarovite's chromium green and micro-crystal druzy habit are distinctive.
- Emerald (beryl): Hexagonal prisms, lower density, different host; emerald never forms garnet dodecahedra.
- Dioptase: Vivid green but prismatic with good cleavage and softer (~5).
- Green tourmaline: Striated prisms, pleochroic.
- Chrome diopside: Prismatic with two cleavages, lower hardness.
- Malachite: Banded, softer, fizzes in acid.
The combination of micro-dodecahedral emerald-green druse on chromite, garnet hardness, no cleavage, and no acid reaction is conclusive.
Where It Is Found
Uvarovite occurs in chromium-rich serpentinites and chromite deposits. Premier localities include the Saranovskii (Saranovskoye) mine in the Ural Mountains, Russia, plus Finland (Outokumpu), Poland, Canada (Quebec), and India. It is the rarest of the common garnet end-members.
Frequently asked questions
What does uvarovite look like?
Uvarovite appears as tiny, brilliant emerald-green dodecahedral garnet crystals forming a sparkling druzy crust on dark chromite-bearing host rock.
Why is uvarovite green?
Its emerald-green color comes from chromium in its crystal structure, the same element that colors emerald and ruby.
How can you tell uvarovite from emerald?
Uvarovite forms isometric garnet dodecahedra with no cleavage and higher density, while emerald forms hexagonal prisms with lower density; uvarovite also occurs as micro-crystal druse on chromite.
Is uvarovite rare?
Yes. It is the rarest of the common garnet end-members, and its crystals are usually too small to facet, so it is valued mainly as green druzy specimens.