Diamonds are the things to have a lot of, especially in the US, but colored stones are my passion. There are so many of them and they are all so different with different qualities and colors!! Take a look at the pictures of (almost) all of the stones in my personal collection.

Garnet is one gemstone that most people have heard of. They are one of the birthstones for January. What most people don’t know is how many kinds of garnet there are. I have 5 garnets in my possession right now and every one is different. There are 6 kinds of garnet (according to Wikipedia) and even more different name. Slight differences in chemical make-up result in different names and different colors.

The first 2 garnets in my collection are the type of garnet that most people think of when they think of garnet. They are almandine garnets which is the most common garnet.

The third garnet in my collection is a tzavorite garnet. This one is a cushion cut stone that is a nice green color. Tzavorites can get even more intense in color than this one but they are all stunning.

The last garnet in my collection, and my prize stone, is a spessartite garnet. It is a stunning orange color that is accentuated by the cut which was done by German cutter Tom Munsteiner.

I’m not a huge fan of the red types of garnet just because I’m a snot and I tend to love things that are super rare; but the other kinds–tzavorite, spessartite, etc.–are some of my favorites because their colors are so amazingly intense. Garnets have a type for everyone!

The stones above are all for sale. If you are interested, please contact me at leah@leahashley.com.