SRILANKA

HESSONITEGARNET

VALENCIA ORANGE

TREATMENT-NONE

SHAPE -ROUND OVAL

CLARITY-VVS

Hessonite

or

Cinnamon Stoneis a variety ofgrossular, a calcium aluminium mineral of thegarnetgroup with the generalformulaCa₃Al₂Si₃O₁₂. The name is from theGreekhÄ“ssÅn,inferior, in allusion to its lower hardness and density than most other garnet species varieties.

The difference is readily detected by the specific gravity, that of hessonite being 3.64 to 3.69, whilst that of zircon is about 4.6. Hessonite has a similar hardness to that ofquartz, about 7 on themohsscale, whilst the hardness of most garnet species can reach 7.5.