Rocks On: Green garnets lead the way

“Demantoids with horsetail inclusions are very difficult to obtain. They’re not readily available in the market these days,” said Brad Goldman of Allan A. Goldman Inc.

Garnet’s other popular green shade, tsavorite, also is in high demand. Because larger pieces of tsavorite tend to have inclusions, buyers prefer clarity over size, leading to a larger number of small cuts of tsavorite available in the market. Tsavorite is very difficult to find in sizes bigger than 1 or 2 carats.

“Tsavorites are a great alternative to emeralds. They’re easier to work with, and despite being rarer than emeralds, they are generally less expensive,” said designer Melissa Kaye, who added that while she’s been “peppering” tsavorites in her latest collection, she has only been offering certain designs with tsavorites due to the challenge of finding them in certain sizes.

“I find color trends can be highly correlated with seasons, but the rich green shades of tsavorite garnets work well year round,” she said. “Tsavorite garnets bridge the line between ‘semi’ and ‘precious’--anything rare or hard to source is always precious.”

These stones rarely need to be treated because its saturated, vivid green color is natural, increasing the value of the stone.

Dyer said, “Tsavorite prices are through the roof. It’s hard to purchase them because there’s a low supply and a lot of demand at the source.”

Warm colors prevail
Mandarin garnet, also called spessartite, also is less available and more expensive than it was a few years ago, according to Dyer. A slight uptick in demand for mandarin garnet also is something a number of buyers and sellers noted at the Tucson gem shows last February. 

And yet, even with it being less available and more expensive, the classic stone continues to be a mainstay in the jewelry world, Goldman said.

Dyer noted that he also has seen an upswing in demand for various shades of red garnet, particularly the orange-red gyspy rose variety of the stone, which he said has an exceptional clarity. 

Rhodolite garnets and their raspberry hues also are booming in popularity, benefiting from their similarity to popular stones like rubellite while offering an exceptional color and clarity at a lower price point, even though their price has risen 20 to 40 percent over the last few years. In addition, they are more commonly found in larger sizes than its green counterparts.

Goldman said that he expects rhodolite garnets’ star to continue rising in the coming years, thanks to the popularity of purple and pink sparked by Pantone’s 2014 color of the year, “radiant orchid.”

“I think that it will continue to increase in price, and that it will eventually become an even more desired type of stone, as is predicated with colors that are popular in consumer trends.” 

Cleaning up
Dyer said that he believes one of the biggest challenges that garnets have come up against in recent years is the rise in demand from markets outside the United States.

Where the U.S. used to be one of the biggest buyers and dealers here could readily get their hands on the stones, a number of other markets have shown more interest lately--like Japan’s desire for the green tsavorite stones--making buyers fight for what is already a dwindling supply of many types of garnet. 

Still, the outlook for January’s birthstone is bullish. 

Goldman said that one benefit garnets have over other gemstones that could help the stone’s growth in the consumer market is that many of them, with a few exceptions, are untreated; they are found in nature with their exceptional colors and clarities.

“Customers like it when they hear about them and the fact that they’re almost completely natural, where there aren’t many (gemstones like that) these days,” he said.

With today’s consumer being more attracted not only to stones that have been ethically and responsibly mined but also that aren’t treated, garnets could have an even brighter future ahead.