Almandine Garnet

Item Description

Encased in a greenish-gray, micaceous schist are several equant crystals, to 2.7 cm on a side, of the almandine member of the the garnet family. These are absolutely classic for the locality, and have been knwon and admired for hundreds of years for their remarkable textbook symmetry. The crystals are lustrous with a hint of translucence, and are colored an attractive reddish -brown. Usually, these specimens are worked to within an inch of their life by abrasion to extract the garnets and polish the surfaces. While this is accepted to some degree among many collectors, more natural state is also nice - though you can see why the material is so often prepped out, as it is found embedded in the schist like this.