I hand pick every one of my Garnets, looking for good color (I hate prune juice looking stones), good clarity, and a medium darkness.  I prefer light to be able to get in, bounce around a little, pop right out and zap you with color. 

However, there is an issue with large Garnets, and one you need to be aware of if you're not familiar with them.  The color on all large garnet is a dark red -- so dark, they will almost look black with the occasional red flash.  For a true Garnet lover, this is fine, it's just the way it is.

The stone weighs 22carats, and is set in a lovely domed filligree mounting, with the strong structure you would expect to hold such a nice stone. This is the kind of heavy metal your Mom would approve of.