Rhodolite belongs to the Garnet group is the red or rose-color garnet between Pyrope and Almandite variety.
The Mohs’ hardness is 6,5 – 7,5.
The garnet group is made of many differently colored minerals with similar crystal structure and related chemical composition. The main representatives are Pyrope, Almandite and Spessartite ,grossularite , andradite and Uvarovite.
The name Garnet derives from Latin for grain because of the rounded crystals and similarity to the red kernals of the pomegranate. Garnet , in the popular sense , is usually understood only as the red “carbuncle stone” pyrope and almandite.
Main deposits are found in Madagascar, Sri Lanka , Tanzania.
Garnet is the birthstone of January.