Your guide to Demantoid Garnet gems

Demantoid Garnet

The demantoid is a spectacular green variety of the garnet family. It is also one of the rarest and therefore you can easily expect to pay many hundreds of dollars per carat, spiralling into thousands for very fine specimens.

Demantiods were first discovered in Russia in the 1850’s, it quickly became a highly sort after gem. Peter Carl Fabergé , famous for his Fabergé eggs used demantoid as well as other garnet varieties in many of his creations; Notably the “Spring Flowers Egg”.

The most common cut for this stone is round, to show off its brilliance. Prices vary dramatically with stones less than 1 carat fetching between $200 and £2000. The most vivid greens are the highest priced and most sought after. Stones over 2 carats are rare and priced accordingly. Anything over 5 carats would be considered a museum piece or collectors item.

Russian Demantiods contain inclusions that others do not. While many inclusions reduce the value of a stone, aesthetically pleasing “horsetail” inclusions not only show the stone is of true Russian origin, but can also raise the value of the stone. The inclusions are called horsetails as the byssolite minerals form in long strands resembling that of a horse’s tail.

For information on other stones in the garnet family see garnet, mandarin garnet, demantoid garnet, Tsavorite Garnet on our gemstone information pages for further details.