Spessartite Origin

[shelovesinclusions]

Hi everyone!

I am a long time lurker, with only one post from back in 2014. Over the past few years, I've picked up a few colored stones I like. I've stuck with mostly sapphires and spinel, but recently caught a bug for something brighter and more sparkly.

I found a spessartite on eBay and it just got to me. I love it. I have looked through the threads to find past info on mining origin clues and came up short, but wanted to know if anyone around could guide me on the types of inclusions spessartite have that are location specific.

The individual who sold me the stone had the original receipt from their purchase showing it was from ACN (now JTV) from 2004, so I'm ruling out newer mining regions.

Help would be appreciated. It's not imperative or anything, just to satisfy my curiosity. Thanks!

 

[Bron357]

Hi, spessartite is a type of garnet (being orange / red) and is found in a number of locations around the world.
Unlike emerald or ruby, which can include inclusions that are attributable to a region, or being such valuable gems where “origin” can mean thousands of dollars difference in value, meaning an expensive chemical analysis is worthwhile, spessartite has no especially “origin” distinguishing inclusions.
Value, as with most gemstones, is dictated by colour, size and clarity.
It’s a very beautiful, sparkly and good wearing gemstone.

 

[shelovesinclusions]

Thank you so much for your information! I really like it. It has just a few inclusions that I can see ilunder 20x magnification, and a little silk- but is really unlike any other stones in my collection. I'm a little sad the inclusions don't tell much of a story, but will definitely appreciate its beauty!

 

[Nosean]

Namibia ( Kunene) and Nigeria produce wonderful colors, Loliondo in Tansania too ( nice strong orange yellow).
Fine qualities from USA too...

And these are only the top vivid orange qualties...

 

[chatoyancy]

I think Namibia is mined out. I always hear about sugar inclusions in spessartite. Mine is a bit over a carat, more an autumn orange, clean and from Mozambique. The most insanely orange spessartite are from Namibia, though really orange gems come from Nigeria as well. They were originally discovered in Germany. California had mines at one time, not sure if they still do. I believe there are also mines in Brazil, but I’ve never seen anyone on here with one.

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

I think from my observations that the Loliondo spessies are distinctive. The neon yellow/orange color coupled with sugar inclusions make them say "Loliondo" to me.

 

[chatoyancy]

Thank you everyone for your responses.

Here's a picture where you can see the inclusions. It has barely any silk, but has small internal cracks that you can see on the facets, and a couple of very tiny black spots. I don't see "sugar", and it doesn't look like Loliondo at all to me. I was thinking maybe Nigeria since it's almost 15 years old and is more reddish orange.


And one with the color.

It’s very pretty. It looks like a burning ember. I couldn’t guess it’s origin though.