Hardness: 7.25
Refractive Index: 1.73-1.75
Specific Gravity: 3.65
Birthstone:
Astral Stone:
Anniversary Stone:
Origination: Sri Lanka, Brazil, the former Russia & the United States.
Care & Cleaning: Clean with a soft polishing cloth, plain water rinse mild solution of soap & water or commercial jewelry cleaner. Do not soak.
Fiction, Facts & Folklore:
Hessonite is the brown variety of the grossular garnet family.
It is also commonly known in the industry as �cinnamon stone.�
Astrologers sometimes link the hessonite with rahu, the northern lunar node where the sun and the moon cross paths.
When literally translated from the Greek, �hessonite� interprets as �inferior.� This has given the hessonite an undeserved reputation among consumers, who mistakenly believe it is of inferior quality.
In earlier times, the hessonite was often confused with the hyacinth, a similar variety of zircon. The hessonite was found to be of lower in hardness and specific gravity that the hyacinth, which led earlier gem authorities to label it as �inferior�.
The hessonite gets its golden brown color from traces of iron and manganese.
Large sizes of hessonite are seldom seen, since it is found primarily in secondary alluvial deposits.
For more information, see �gossular garnet�.