African Malaia Garnet

Malaia Garnet is a “hybrid” garnet and is essentially a mixture of Pyrope, Spessartite and Almandite garnets. It is a rare gemstone only found in Tanzania and occurs in shades of orange, yellowish orange, reddish orange and pinkish orange. Its name grammatically means “Outcast” or “Misfit” in Swahili as when it was first discovered, the miners were mining Rhodolite Garnet and were confused as to what they had found, as they had never seen the color before. As the gem grew in popularity, the name was officially recognized into gemological nomenclature. It is a beautiful gemstone with the most valued color being an open pinkish orange. The stunning “burnt orange” hues are also very much in vogue right now.

The correct spelling is “Malaia Garnet” as the name is derived from the Swahili word meaning “misfit”. However, it is often spelt “Malaya Garnet” erroneously, probably because of a mistaken association with the Asian country of Malaya (now called Malaysia). In actual fact, Malaia Garnet is only found in Tanzania, in East Africa and Malaysia has never been a source for this gem type.

Malaia Garnet is one of the rarest of the garnet species. There is only one mining location in the world – in Tanzania, in East Africa. It has a complex chemical structure as different Malaias contain different percentages of Pyrope, Spessartite and Almandite.