Like fiery comets in the evening sky there appeared some ten years ago the first Mandarin Garnets in the gemstone trade. Experts and enthusiasts both agreed: the wonderful colors and excellent brilliance of the orange-red treasures are unique indeed.
Just close your eyes and dream a little bit: Africa … orange-red is the evening sky in the Northwest of Namibia, over quiet mountains and a lonely river. The next settlement is about nine hours away by car. The temperatures are extreme here: in summer, 40 to 50 degrees centigrade are the rule, while in winter temperatures drop to almost freezing point. Here, far away from any kind of civilisation the Kunene River has for centuries followed its route to along the border between Namibia and Angola through the mountains. This remote and isolated place, one of the last placed untouched by the modern world, is the place where in 1991 the first Mandarin Garnets were found. Embedded in mica and mica slate, at the very same location where they came into existence millions of years ago, there were discovered small crystals of exceptional color and transparency which gained the experts' attention. Gemmological tests proved that the first theories and speculations had been right: the orange-colored stones were in fact variations of the rare Spessartine stones, members of the large and colorful Garnet-family. So far Spessartine had been found only in Sri Lanka, Upper Birma, Madagascar, Brazil and Australia as well as in Kenya and Tanzania, but they were rare stones for enthusiasts and collectors and had hardly been used for jewellery. The reason for this moderate situation was simple: they were offered only rarely in really good color and quality in the gemstone mines. However, the spectacular crystals from Namibia were of an exceptionally fine, intensively bright orange. Some even sparkled in a deep red-orange of the last rays of the light, when the sun has already set beyond the horizon. They were more beautiful and brilliant than anything available before. Almost no inclusions disturb the brilliant appearance of the "imperial garnets”.
Very quickly the rough stones came on the market visa only few gemstone cutters. Mostly the stones were faceted, as the facets best bring out their unique color and brilliance. Unfortunately the mine on the Kunene River was soon exploited. In the beginning the stones were found there direct at the surface of the mines, but the excavations had to be taken deeper and deeper as time passed on. The results got less and less, while the costs kept increasing. So finally the mine gave up production. Further prospecting in the remote bush region of Namibia would have been far too expensive and too complicated. Traders and gemstone lovers both regretted very much that this gemstone which had managed so quickly to attract an enthusiastic group of fans was only available sparsely from stocks of only few cutters
Information on gemstones provided in part by: The International Colored Gemstone Association
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