The Surprising Truth About Garnet in the Jewelry Industry Nobody Tells You

[@billyhendrix5544]

These are the type of videos KZbin needs

[@ChrisRalph]

Well. That is very kind of you to say.

[@argonaught5666]

You got me going again Chris! 5 years ago I found a very nice garnet specimen in AZ. 4 nice crystals about the size of a small marble on a white matrix. I started looking up country but given that it was in an alluvial deposit it was like a crap shoot. A few years later I got up on a high vantage point and looked down on the area. It was clear that the gravel on the ridges actually came from the south and was later cut from the west. I had been looking to the west. Valuable lesson for prospectors that I've utilized a few times! Sometimes you can't see the forest for the trees. Get on a high point and look down on an area. Especially useful in open country like the desert. You'll be surprised sometimes at the picture that reveals itself!

[@ChrisRalph]

I've seen some really nice specimens of garnet worth good money from Arizona. Hope you find the source.

[@glentomkins8044]

Great information Chris, I never knew that garnet came in so many colors or had so many uses. Thanks again.

[@ChrisRalph]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Anashadk]

Some of those stones were definately beautiful regardless of their commercial value.

[@ChrisRalph]

They are beautiful stones.

[@joane.landers9151]

Garnet is Connecticut's state mineral.

[@toddeftsadams5909]

I have been panning very fine gold from a place that I high banked last summer from my Secret spot in the Snowy Range Mountains in south Wyoming. I have been picking tiny garnett out of the black sand.

[@argonaught5666]

I took a trip through that country near 40 years ago with my dad. We explored many low grade deposits back in the day when big low grade deposits were the thing. I can't remember where all we went but I remember Laramie and the Gross Ventre river. There is a massive low grade deposit there that extends for miles! The gold is very fine and is thought to be the source of the Snake River placers. My dad had a bunch of literature on it. As a side note, I found some small but very good grade jade around there and a point of interest up the Gross Ventre River. There was a big land slide up there that I think blocked the river at one point. We hiked up into the slide and found some kind of fossils plants. Like big stems if I remember correctly. Always Wanted to go back there. So many other projects I'll never get to though.

[@ChrisRalph]

Glad you liked the video - yep, garnet is associated with a lot of placers.

[@toddeftsadams5909]

@Argo Naught when I was a kid my folks and I hunted in the area of the slide. Jack Creek, on the other side of those mountains, has find Placer gold as well.

[@toddeftsadams5909]

@Chris Ralph, Professional Prospector Chris you have showed me lots about gold and geology. I wish I could show you some of the great finds I found using information you gave to us all. Thank you for showing me the way.

[@argonaught5666]

@@toddeftsadams5909 Cool! You know where I'm talking about then. That low grade deposit is huge but if I remember it only assays at .01, .02 at its best. I think some of the snake deposits went like 1000 colors to the pan and took 1000's of colors to the ounce. Wish I knew where my dad git that literature. It told where the richer areas were and might be useful to refine your placer searches. You might be on one of those in your secret spot! You might try searching at the Laramie library or school of mines literature. Maybe even Denver. All I know is some select areas were higher grade than most of it. Good luck!

[@BullProspecting]

Garnets are one thing I have no problem finding! Thank you Chris for all you do! You are truly amazing and inspiring! God Bless you & may the good lord help you to find the Mother load!🙏

[@ChrisRalph]

Thanks, I appreciate that! Best of luck to you as well.

[@iamtheroadwanderer]

Totally cool, friend! I'll get the book for sure, thank you!

[@ChrisRalph]

Glad you enjoyed it.

[@tortugalisa4748]

Wow! I never knew there were a whole aray of colors with garnet and now I know why as well, thanks! Great video. I still like the almondite garnet crystal but I would have to say my favorite and one I never knew existed is the green demontoid💚 Just beautiful. Chris, I found a pretty see thru light green stone speckled throughout a boulder in the mountains of Yavapai County, (Central Arizona) what mineral could that be please ??

[@ChrisRalph]

Please check out my mineral ID videos. Start out with the first one: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g6HOiGhuj8qEosU There is no way for me to guess what your mineral was, as there are more than 500 different minerals that come in some shade of green! The mineral ID video explains why color is the worst characteristic for ID of minerals. I think you will find the whole series of three mineral ID videos interesting. Glad you enjoyed the garnet video!

[@shannoneckenswiller843]

Perfect timing this video. Really enjoy these videos.. I'm in Alberta, and spring is slowly arriving. We find a lot of various color Garents. Some in the rock still lose while panning. As well as purple sand. Have a collection of that. Nice to know the family types they belong to. There so much to geology behind this. It can be overwhelming as you really dont notice some fantastic or less common items until you read or watch a video. Now, I have a collection of geology books. Been metal detecting for a decade. Gold and gems only a few years. Dinosaur bones well Alberta is black gold and dinosaurs..😂 Thanks again for the video. There is so much to see on the ground and in the water.

[@ChrisRalph]

Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it.

[@readalittle764]

I'm really enjoying your videos. Thank you!

[@ChrisRalph]

I'm so glad you like them!

[@Smithsgold]

Great Information Chris

[@ChrisRalph]

Glad you think so!

[@jeffkeller9009]

Great video, Prospecting comes in many different ways, not just gold.

[@ChrisRalph]

Absolutely true.

[@Algoldprospecting]

I find thousands of garnets when I’m dredging for gold in Alabama. I think most of them are almandine or pyrope. Most are super dark almost black red. I sanded and polished some and was amazed. They do have cats eye affect. No star yet. Thanks for your video

[@ChrisRalph]

Sounds interesting. How large are they?

[@Algoldprospecting]

@@ChrisRalph The finished ones are about a centimeter and a half bay 1 centimeters. I have found much larger but didn’t know they had value. I’m gonna do a quick video if you want to see. Thanks

[@ChrisRalph]

I dont offer any photo or video evaluation service.

[@davevan1928]

Another good video Prior to today I only knew 2 things about garnets 1- they are very pretty to look at and collect 2- they are sometimes worse then black sands to pan when looking for gold lol

[@ChrisRalph]

Glad you enjoyed the video.

[@davevan1928]

I do have a question for you not pertaining to this video. I was out exploring today and I came across a 100 foot shear rock wall. You can everything clearly. I seen some quartz veins some were wavy some looked like a oscilloscope graph and one looked like a spiral that just dead ended in a ball. Was wondering if you could shed some light on what causes that . I have my ideas but would like to know what you think . Ty sir

[@ChrisRalph]

The liquids that deposit quartz veins flow in cracks in the rocks. Depending on various directions of the force on the rocks and weaknesses in the rock, they can break in weird ways.

[@davevan1928]

Ty sir I was thinking the pressures of the rocks with the temps of the liquid kinda sorta melted the surrounding rock. But either way it is very neat 👍 Again ty

[@ChrisRalph]

If you melt quartz you get glass. Quartz veins are not glass and they never get to the temps needed to melt them.

[@PureNatureFilm]

Thank you!

[@ChrisRalph]

You're welcome!

[@billyhendrix5544]

Thank you

[@ChrisRalph]

You're welcome

[@davekollman2216]

Great video how do you tell the difference between Ruby/ sapphire and garnet. I know the sapphire is harder but most people don’t have a hardness tester

[@ChrisRalph]

check out my mineral ID videos. Start out with the first one: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g6HOiGhuj8qEosU You can scratch one stone against another and mineral test kits are cheap on Amazon.

[@e.s.8684]

@@ChrisRalph Wow, there's so many to choose from, which one would you recommend?

[@arieerkkila]

Thanks Chris! Do jewelers ever set raw garnets that have good symmetry and translucence? Or would it be more valuable as a specimen like that San Diego Spessartine going for 35k.

[@ChrisRalph]

Yes they do set raw crystals sometimes, but value is a variable thing depending on the art of beauty of the jewelry piece or the specimen (which is art by nature).

[@aimenabdul-basset9442]

Very valuable video. Is gold associated with garnet ?

[@ChrisRalph]

Sometimes.

[@okboomer6201]

Could you please explain pegmatites?

[@ChrisRalph]

When large bodies of magma solidify slowly they form rocks like granite. The last little bit of the mass to solidify often has lots of water and some unusual elements like lithium, beryllium, boron and others. The water allows large crystals to grow. Many gemstones are found in these types of deposits.

[@gloriaharger8934]

What gems are prominent in Utah?

[@ChrisRalph]

Utah produces gems like Topaz. There are rock hound books like: Rockhounding Utah, 2nd: A Guide to the State's Best Rockhounding Sites - available on Amazon. Check out web pages like: rockhoundresource.com/utah-rockhounding-location-guide-map/ Use Google to search and you will find lots of info.

[@firiusdubblethink]

I found a large ping-pong ball sized garnet in NW Arizona, perfectly faceted. I read that garnets form differently and far more slowly than other crystals. They grow on the atomic level, rather than molecular. Do you know anything about that?

[@ChrisRalph]

I would not agree that "far more slowly than other crystals" or that they grow on an atomic level and other crystals do not. Not sure who told you that.

[@santhapadmalal9277]

MR. Christ how many Garnets varietys in the world.

[@ChrisRalph]

Depends on how you count them. There are at least 20, but there are also rare ones that are never gemstone quality.

[@rodhelms-yt2pk]

In co a large one ok at what county, they only large garnet I found was a old woman that had the gift of talking

[@ChrisRalph]

OK.

[@freelancerider100]

It looks a lot like cinnabar

[@ChrisRalph]

That's why color is not good for mineral ID - red minerals include both cinnabar, garnets, rubies and realgar - an arsenic mineral!

[@zeburgerkang]

a few weeks? damb that jeweler be terrible.

[@ChrisRalph]

Say what?

[@zeburgerkang]

@@ChrisRalph a few weeks for a jeweler to tell if something was real = shitty jeweler.

[@zeburgerkang]

@@ChrisRalph imagine not knowing what you have said in your own video.