Spessartite is a beautiful and charming stone and is a member of the varied and extremely colorful Garnet family. In a very remote part of Namibia, Africa, hardly touched by civilization the first Spessartites were discovered in 1991. The Kunene River meanders its way through the Namibian – Angolan border right along where these bright and exceptionally brilliant gems were first found. Spessartite is infact a variation of the extremely rare Spessartine gemstone, a member of the Garnet family.
Realising the natural beauty of this find, the mines in Namibia near to the Kunene River were exhausted fairly quickly. Stones found near the surface were soon scarce so mines were excavated deeper but even these mines were so soon exhausted of this fantastic find.

 There were various names chosen for the find but eventually the name Mandarin Garnet stuck due to it’s beautiful color. 3 years later in 1994 more orange stones were discovered in the North-West of Nigeria, these once again turned out to be Mandarin Garnets so although big sized clean stones are rare and can command serious money there are a good selection of smaller 1Ct+ sizes on the market today.

 Spessartite Garnet is a wonderful gem for a number of reasons. Firstly it’s dazzling color is easily recognizable and second to none.  As is the case in all of the Garnet family it has a high light refraction index which leaves people in awe of  this gems outstanding luster and brilliance, even in bad lighting for pieces that are free of inclusions the Mandarin Spessartite Garnet will still gleam and sparkle. It is a very hard wearing stone thus suitable for every occasion and for everyday wear. It is not known how much more of this gem there is to be found in the earth and therefore the price of  2Ct+ sizes, with good color and little to no inclusions are becoming very expensive on todays market. One thing is for sure however, no picture can do this stunning stone a true justice, it is truly amazing in person and sure to give the wearer or collector maximum pleasure for many years to come. Thank you for taking the time to read our detailed description, we hope it has been informative and helpful for you. No picture can do this stunning stone a true justice, it is truly amazing in person and sure to give the wearer or collector maximum pleasure for many years to come. Thank you for taking the time to read our detailed description, we hope it has been informative and helpful for you.