The king of garnets. A green garnet with fire that exceeds diamond.
Demantoid's dispersion — the measure of how intensely a stone splits white light into spectral colours — surpasses that of diamond. Combined with vivid green colour, it produces a stone of extraordinary optical beauty.
Demantoid garnets were first discovered in the Ural Mountains of Russia in the 1850s. Their name derives from the Dutch word "demant" — meaning diamond — because of their extraordinary brilliance and fire. By the late nineteenth century, they had become the most prized of all garnets, favoured by the Russian imperial court and by the house of Faberge.
Demantoid defies the garnet stereotype completely. People hear "garnet" and think dark, affordable red. Demantoid is green, optically extraordinary, and genuinely rare. Placing one in an Archers Gems setting creates a piece that challenges every assumption about what garnet can be.
The stone's relative softness demands protective metalwork, pushing the design in interesting directions. The prong architecture becomes more substantial, more assertive.
Colour is paramount: the most desirable demantoids show vivid, saturated green without too much yellow or brown. Stones above one carat are uncommon, and anything above two carats with good colour is genuinely rare. Horsetail inclusions add provenance value and collector appeal.
The garnet family spans a colour range most people would never expect
I source stones individually and can discuss what's currently available. Every piece is designed around the specific gem.
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