About this object

The rarest and most valuable garnet gem is the green to greenish-yellow variety of the mineral andradite, called demantoid.  Demantoid was first discovered in Russia’s Ural Mountains in 1851, and from that time through the early 1900s they were popular in Russia.  Demantoid gems larger than a few carats are rare.  Today, because of limited supplies, demantoid maintains its status as a rare and expensive gem and is most commonly seen in antique jewelry. However, a significant new find occurred in 1996 in Namibia, and these yellowish-green demantoid gems are being seen in the jewelry industry today.