A garnet is a beautiful red stone that resembles a ruby. The garnet is the lesser expensive stone out of those two red stones, and each has different character traits such as hue of red, density and reflectivity. Each garnet is different but these guidelines will help you determine a genuine garnet from fakes or rubies. Garnets are usually set with other gems such as diamonds to add brilliance to jewelry because of its dense character.
Classify the color. Garnets are a dark red resembling a burgundy or mahogany color.
Evaluate the cut of the stone. Garnets are usually displayed in standard gem cuts for example common garnet cuts are princess, round and emerald cut compared to more brilliant cuts such as cushion or pear cut. A garnet is a dense stone and would not display well with a brilliant cut.
Hold the garnet close to your eye and look for a rainbow pattern. A garnet will display a rainbow pattern with greens and yellows. The rainbow will be clear because a garnet has a single refractive property.