Difference Between Garnet & Topaz

Color

• Garnets come in many colors, red being the most popular, according to the Gemological Institute of America (GIA.) Red garnet comes in three species: almandine is a medium-red, rhodolite is red with purple or raspberry tinges and pyrope is darkest red. Other colors include orange, green, and yellow.

  Topaz has a wide range of colors: blue, green, yellow, orange, red, pink and purple as well as colorless.

Hardness

• Garnet has a hardness of 6.5 to 7.5 on the Moh's scale, which is a relative scale measuring a mineral's resistance to scratching by another substance. The hardest substance, a diamond, is a 10 on the Moh's scale. Topaz's hardness on the Mohs scale is 8.

Origin

• Garnets are mined in East Africa, India and Sri Lanka, according to the GIA, which also said that topaz is mined in wider variety of places: Australia, Brazil, Madagascar, Mexico, Myanmar (Burma), Namibia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the United States.

Birthstones

• Garnet is the traditional birthstone for January as adopted by the American National Association of Jewelers in 1912. November's traditional birthstone is the yellow Topaz.

History

• "Garnet" gets its name from the Latin word "garanatus," meaning "seedlike," referring to a pomegranate, and topaz gets its name from the Greek word "topazion," which could come from the Sanskrit meaning, "fire," according to Jewelsforme.com.

Cost

• According to the International Color Gemstone Association, the Imperial topaz and tsavorite garnet range from $50 to $1,000 per carat. Pink topaz and demantoid garnet range from $250 to $5,000 per carat. Blue topaz, although quite popular, can range from $5 to $100 per carat.