FINE JEWELLERY, WATCHES, SILVER & COINS 22nd January 2025 at 12pm

par t, Garnets are not treated as they are relatively transparent stones and have a bright vitreous lustre. Except of course for Hydrogrossular garnets which are translucent to opaque, found in the Transvaal region of South Africa. Lustre relates to the quality and quantity of light reflected from the surface of a material. Lustre is not a measurable quality but in Gemmology we use a definitive set of terms to describe the lustre of a gem material. Such as Adamantine in terms of diamond, coming from the Latin Adamas meaning diamond. Diamond is the only gemstone to have an adamantine lustre. Garnets are found in a range across sub-adamantine to a bright-vitreous lustre. Glass for example has a vitreous lustre. Colour is a fundamental proper ty of most gemstones, and as a Gemmologist is often our first clue to their identity. The human eye can detect wavelengths between about 400nm to 700nm, which is known as visible light. Although colour is treated as an optical proper ty of gem materials in this course, the colour you ‘see’ is par tly physiological because it depends on your eyes and brain as well as the interaction of light energy with the gem material. If the structure of a material modifies white light and the modified light energy then enters your eyes, your brain may interpret the remaining light energy as a colour.This helps us to see the brownish yellow to the red of Hessonite Garnet sometimes referred to as ‘cinnamon stone’ in the trade. Malaya Garnets are also an orange colour. And so, all of this is to say that Garnet is in my humble opinion a hugely underappreciated stone. However, you can use this to your advantage as the price per carat weight of Garnet can be significantly lower than that of other gemstones such as Sapphire, Aquamarine or Emerald. People who are born in January are in luck, however, as it is the traditional bir thstone given to Aquarians. 7 LIVE AUCTION OF FINE JEWELLERY, WATCHES, SILVER & COINS • WEDNESDAY, 22nd JANUARY 2025 AT 12PM Natasha Bernon Cert GA Lot 234 AN ART NOUVEAU GARNET AND SEED PEARL PENDANT, the oval garnet and seed pearl mounted in 9ct gold, on a 9ct gold chain, 3.8 g. Estimate €150 – €250