The Famous New York Subway Garnet
In October 2017, I attended a press briefing at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) on the Upper West Side in New York City where they announced the plans for the renovation of the Hall of Gems and unveiled a 12-foot tall Uruguayan Amethyst geode acquired to sit in the new hall. As part of the day’s events we were guided through the existing Hall of Gems and a behind-the-scenes viewing of selected parts of the museum’s gem and mineral collection that were not on display. The tour was led by curator and geologist George Harlow.
The Subway Garnet photo by Fred R. Conrad for The New York Times.
Since becoming a gemologist, it has become common-place in my life to see astoundingly rare, beautiful, and valuable gemstones in the most unassuming places. Behind-the-scenes at the AMNH was no different. We were a group of press in a standard office meeting room, but in front of us was a table full of large mineral specimens and a selection of impressive faceted and carved gemstones sitting in carefully labeled cream-colored boxes. I’m always tickled by how gem dealers, miners, “mineral guys” handle stones; they likely have the most reverence for the material they are holding of anyone in the world, while also having the most nonchalant attitude when picking up an impressive piece. Observing the journalists from places that don’t exclusively cover gems and jewelry watch as Harlow would pick pieces from around the table reminded me of the constant awe I felt with each new gem I held, piece of jewelry I tried on, and wild mineral specimen I studied when I first entered this industry.
Left to Right: Opal display in the Harry Frank Guggenheim Hall of Gems and Minerals in 2017. George Harlow holding a piece of the museum’s collection, a 419.50 carat Elbaite Tourmaline from the Pala Mine in San Diego County, California. Gemstone carving vitrine display in the AMNH Harry Frank Guggenheim Hall of Gems and Minerals in 2017.
On that table of rocks so cool they were deemed worthy of belonging to one of the preeminent gem and mineral collections in America was a large though quite dull colored ball about the size of my 3 year old niece’s head or a small cabbage. This was the Subway Garnet.
Left: The Subway Garnet with its identification tag. Right: George Harlow holding the Subway Garnet.
The Subway Garnet is a dark reddish brown opaque 9 pound 10 ounce Almandine Garnet. Rough Garnet crystals can take on a number of forms, and the Subway Garnet is a combination of 3 forms. As a result, the Subway Garnet is overall round in form, but made up of a many 4 and 6 sided faces or as the New York Times describes it, “the gem resembles nothing so much as Fred Flintstone’s bowling ball.”
Engraving by mineralogist B.B. Chamberlin of the Subway Garnet that appeared in Transactions of the New York Academy of Science 1885-10-05: Vol 5.
Though it is called the Subway Garnet, this garnet was discovered in Manhattan in August 1885 when a laborer digging as part of a sewer excavation found and unearthed the gem. In reading through accounts from the time, there are mixed details about how the garnet went from the earth to the hands of renowned gemologist George Frederick Kunz – the man who ultimately gifted the gem to the AMNH. One version has it that Kunz was walking by the excavation site, saw the gem among what was being removed and picked it up for himself. Another version describes that after the large garnet was discovered by a worker on the sewer excavation, the man gave the stone to Mr. J. J. King, who then gave it to Kunz. A third version of the story that comes from the book My Mineral Discoveries since 1879 by William Niven, Director of the Houston Museum of Natural History describes the discovery this way:
“It was unearthed by a laborer making an excavation on 35th Street near 3rd Avenue, eight feet below the surface and flung up on the dump, when I happened to be passing along. After a careful cleaning it was found to be a perfect dodecahedron crystal of an Almandite Garnet and was placed in the window of my mineral store at 246 West 23rd Street, for sale, with the price marked $100.00 [$2,685.31 in 2021]. Next day it was bought by a well-known gem expert of Tiffany & Company and is now on display in a loan exhibition of the Mineral Department, American Museum of Natural History, New York City.”
The well-known Tiffany expert he is referring to is of course, George F. Kunz.
While these stories may differ in the hopes of making competing men geologist heroes, there is one fact that remains true in all of them – the Subway Garnet specimen is exceptional and rare! Most Garnet crystals of that size don’t stay intact, which understandably has earned this gemstone the title of most famous mineral specimen found on the island of Manhattan.
The Subway Garnet in its new display in the Allison and Roberto Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals. Image via Spectrum New NY1.
At some point the garnet was dubbed the Subway Garnet because connecting the gemstone to an NYC treasure – the Subway – felt more fitting for this gemstone treasure than its sewer dig origins. In 1885, Kunz presented the Subway Garnet to the New York Academy of the Sciences, and it was loaned from his private collection for display to the New York Mineralogical Club (NYMC). Kunz left his mineral collection to the NYMC in his will and the entire collection is now housed at the American Museum of Natural History.
The AMNH’s new Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals was slated to open in 2020, but the opening was postponed due to COVID. The Hall is now expected to open in spring 2021 and the Subway Garnet will be on display alongside the glittering treasures of the AMNH after nearly 40 years in storage.
A conceptual rendering of the Allison and Roberto Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals, opening in Fall 2020 at the American Museum of Natural History.
Rendering © AMNH
Sources:
Transactions of the New York Academy of Science 1885-10-05: Vol 5, 80, 264–266. New York City, New York: New York Academy of Sciences, 1885. Accessed January 27, 2021 through Internet Archive (archive.org). https://archive.org/details/sim_new-york-academy-of-sciences-transactions_1885-10-05_5/mode/2up.
John H. Betts, John Betts - Fine Minerals. “Accounts of the Discovery of the Subway Garnet (Also Known as the Kunz Garnet).” John Betts - Fine Minerals. Accessed January 27, 2021. http://www.johnbetts-fineminerals.com/jhbnyc/articles/kunz-gar.htm.
Schulz, Bill. “The Subway Garnet.” The New York Times. The New York Times, December 24, 2015. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/27/nyregion/subway-garnet-almandine-garnet-was-discovered-underground-in-manhattan-1885.html.
Simon, Stephanie. NYC's Subway Garnet Will Soon Shine Again at Museum. Spectrum News NY1, January 22, 2021. https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/arts/2021/01/22/nyc-s-subway-garnet-will-soon-shine-again-at-american-museum-of-natural-history#.