Did you know?
Spessartine is one of the garnets, and garnet is not only a gem but a workhorse abrasive. Crushed garnet is the grit on garnet sandpaper and the sharp sand fired in waterjet cutters that slice through steel. The same family of crystals prized in a ring is, ground up, tough enough to cut metal.
Pressing a quartz crystal makes it give off a precise electric beat, which is why it keeps time in nearly every watch and once tuned the radios of World War II, when good crystals were a strategic resource.
