Introduction

Spessartite is a unique member of the Garnet group, with an orange to reddish brown hue to it. Though spessartite with intense yellow-orange colour are often traded as 'Mandarin garnet'. Mandarin garnet is famed for its fiery colour and its wonderful brilliance. A perfect spessaritite is said to resemble the deep orange of the autumnal sun. The name, ‘Spessartine’ originated from the Bavarian word, ‘Spessart’, meaning ‘forest’, which is a mountain range in Germany where spessartine garnet deposits were found in the 1880s.

The Spessaritite is also called the Fanta Garnet, because of its lush colour that is similar to the famous orange drink. As the colour orange is thematic is nature across most religions, the gem is held in high regard in Hinduism, Christianity and Islam.