Garnet bunch of grapes on supplied cord.

The garnet group contains minerals with a cubic crystal system and crystals in the form of rhombic dodecahedra and trapezoids. They are nesosilicates with the general formula A3B2(SiO4)3. Garnets can contain the chemical elements calcium, magnesium, aluminum, iron2+, iron3+, chromium, manganese and titanium. Grenades do not show fission. The hardness is 6.5 - 7.5 and garnets can be transparent to opaque. The name "garnet" comes from the Latin word granatus, and refers to malum garanatum (pomegranate), a plant with red seeds that resemble commonly found garnet crystals. Garnets, contrary to popular belief, and the name suggests, are not always red, but can be purple, red, orange, yellow, green, brown, black or colorless. In 1998, a blue-pink garnet was first found in Bekily, Madagascar. This variant is considered very rare. The six most common varieties are pyrope, almandine, spessartite, grossular, uvarovite, and andradite. These occur in two solid solution series: 1.The pyralspite group: pyrope-almandine-spessartite 2.The ugrandite group: uvarovite-grossular-andradite. Garnets are very common in the lower crust and mantle and thus play a major role in the chemical understanding of the Earth. Garnet is one of the "nine gems" in the Thai Order of the Nine Gems.