The rare Malawi umbalite garnet may forever change your mind about red garnets. Color ranges from rose red to raspberry red, and purplish-red to purplish-pink. It is brighter than the common red garnets and without a trace of a brown secondary hue. It’s a fine gem that makes stunning jewelry.

it is suitable for all kinds of jewelry, including rings. It also has very good brilliance due to its high refractive index.

The color of Malawi Umbalite is quite unique in the gems world. Really the only comparable gem is rubellite tourmaline, which can often be found in a similar raspberry color.

What is being sold in the market as Umbalite Garnet is actually a rhodolite garnet from Tanzania. Rhodolite is a mixture of almandite and pyrope garnets. The Tanzanian material is high quality, with a vivid pinkish-red or purplish-red color. The first deposit of this material was found in the Umba River area of Tanzania, with a second find in the Morogoro area.