Hessonite (The royal) cut discs of this Garnet type from Afghanistan.

The garnet group contains minerals with a cubic crystal system and crystals in the form of rhombic dodecahedra and trapezoidal. 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 cleavage. 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. Contrary to popular belief, and the name suggests, garnets are not always red, but can be purple, red, orange, yellow, green, brown, black, or colorless. In 1998, a blue-pink garnet was found for the first time in Bekily, Madagascar. This variant is considered very rare. The most common six varieties are pyrope, almandine, spessartite, grossular, uvarovite and andradite. These occur in two fixed solution series: 1. The Pyralspiet group: pyrope-almandien-spessartite 2. The ugrandite group: uvarovite-grossulaar-andradite. Garnets are very common in the lower crust and mantle and thus play a major role in the chemical understanding of the Earth. The garnet is one of the "nine gemstones" in the Thai Order of the Nine Gems.