How to Identify Garnets | Our Pastimes
Perform a hardness test. Garnets are a 7-7.5 on the Mohs Scale. Steel has a hardness of 5 of the Mohls Scale, so you should be able to scratch steel with a garnet, but you should not be able to scratch a garnet with something like a steel blade. Quartz is also a 7-7.5 on the Mohs Scale, so if you have a piece handy you can test with quartz. You ...