Collection: 2025.1.28 What is Malaya Garnet?

Good morning, this is Nori-chan.

We would like to provide information to help you enjoy GemTreeJapan's gemstones, with the aim of "killing a few minutes at your leisure!" and "some useful news!"

Garnet, the birthstone for January, has many varieties, including derivatives, but this time we will focus on "Malayan Garnet" . We will explain it in a way that is easy to read, without going into too much technical detail.

What is Malaya Garnet?


First of all, Malaya Garnet belongs to the red (pyralspite) group and is a species that is a solid solution of two or more types . ( *1 )

・2-type mix Pyrope/Spessartine・3-type mix Pyralspit

While the red group is called the pyralspite series , the green group is called the uglandite series, which is an acronym for uvarovite, grossular, and andradite.

When it comes to identifying Malaya Garnet, it is not listed or described primarily because it is the so-called commercial name ( ※2 ). The mineral name is generally listed as " garnet " and the gemstone name as " pyrope/spessartine garnet ."


Since Nori-chan herself does not own the Japanese sorting for Malaya Garnet, there are no images of the Japanese sorting, but in EGL it is represented as follows:

This is an EGL sorting of a mixed Malaya garnet of pyrope and spessartite garnet.

And this is a triple-mix Malaya Garnet. In this case, it is written as "pyralspite".

The above is the notation of EGL's sorting. The word Malaya is written in parentheses. On the back of the sorting, there is a comment that says, "It is traded as Malaya Garnet."

Malaya Garnet comes in a fairly wide range of hues, from red, pink, orange, to golden colors. Red Malaya Garnet is called "Red Malaya" and golden Malaya is called "Imperial Malaya". This is also a commercial name.

Why not find a Malaya Garnet that interests you?

From here on, I will post some of my favorite pieces as references for colors. I picked out three stones.

This is the 3-color mixed Malaya Garnet (1.98ct) described above. Each color is beautiful, but the beauty of the mixed colors is in a class of its own. This is a photo of the stone in a case under sunlight.
Product page → Malaya Garnet 1.98ct

This is a rare tapered cut Malaya Garnet (0.498ct). The complex colors, such as red and pink, are beautiful and difficult to describe in one word.

Product page → Malaya Garnet 0.498ct

This Malaya Garnet (0.916ct) has a beauty that is hard to describe. The cube and flower are the best for their gorgeous beauty, which is different from the rich purple. I chose this one because it was purely Nori-chan's preference.

*1 In the sorting by the Japan-Germany Gemological Institute, if there are two types, the gemstone name is "Pyrope/Spessartine", but if there are three types, the gemstone name is "Garnet" and a comment is added stating that it is a mixture of three types. Both refer to Malaya Garnet. There was also a sorting that had "Commonly known as Malaya Garnet" in the comment. I think it would be a good idea to request that this be stated.

*2 A commercial name is not the official name of a gemstone, but a name that has come to be called in the market during the distribution process. Commercial names are generally not listed on identification reports. However, they may be noted in the comments, such as "It is called XX."