Spessartine

Orange manganese garnet, prized in its bright 'mandarin' color.

Spessartine specimen — Photo: Géry PARENT, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

How to identify spessartine

Vivid orange to red-orange.
Many-faced rounded crystals, often on smoky quartz or feldspar.
Hardness 7–7.5.

Often confused with

Grossular
Hessonite grossular is browner and looks swirly inside.
Compare side by side
Topaz
Imperial topaz forms prisms with a perfect cleavage.
Compare side by side

Where it's found

Kunene, Namibia
Nigeria
Fujian, China
Ramona, California

Uses

Gemstones.

Rock tumbling

Great for tumbling.

Did you know?

It's named after the Spessart forest in Germany, where it was first described.

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