Garnet
Garnet, January’s birthstone, is one of the most diverse gemstones, as it comes in an extraordinary range of colors. The garnet birthstone is mined around the world and symbolizes many different positive emotions.
Definition:
Those born in January are lucky to have the beautiful and diverse garnet as their birthstone. Garnets are commonly red but also come in an extraordinary range of beautiful colors, including orange, yellow, purple, and vibrant green. There are even garnets that change color from blue to purple in different lighting. Some believe the true value of the garnet birthstone is its power to bring the wearer good health, wealth and happiness.
Red garnets have a long history, but modern gem buyers can pick from a rich palette of garnet colors: greens, oranges, pinkish oranges, deeply saturated purplish reds, and even some blues. Red garnet is one of the most common and widespread of gems. But not all garnets are as abundant as the red ones. A green garnet, tsavorite, is rarer and needs rarer rock chemistries and conditions to form.
Demantoid is a rare and famous green garnet, spessartine (also called spessarite) is an orange garnet, and rhodolite is a beautiful purple-red garnet. Garnets can even exhibit the color-change phenomenon similar to the rare gemstone alexandrite.
All garnets have essentially the same crystal structure, but they vary in chemical composition. There are more than twenty garnet categories, called species, but only five are commercially important as gems. Those five are pyrope, almondine (also called almondite), spessartine (spessartite), grossular (grossulite), and andradite. A sixth, uvarovite, is a green garnet that usually occurs as crystals too small to cut. It’s sometimes set as clusters in jewelry. Many garnets are chemical mixtures of two or more garnet species.
The History of Garnet:
The name “Garnet” originates from the Medieval Latin granatus, meaning “pomegranate seed”, in reference to the similarity of the red color. Garnets have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. Thousands of years ago, red garnet necklaces adorned the necks of Egypt’s pharaohs, and were entombed with their mummified corpses as prized possessions for the afterlife. In ancient Rome, signet rings with carved garnets were used to stamp the wax that secured important documents.
The term carbuncle was often used in ancient times to refer to red garnets, although it was used for almost any red stone. Carbuncle was thought to be one of the four precious stones given to King Solomon by God.
Centuries later, in Roman scholar Pliny’s time (23 to 79 AD), red garnets were among the most widely traded gems. In the Middle Ages (about 475 to 1450 AD), red garnet was favored by clergy and nobility.
The discovery of the famous Bohemian garnet deposits, the primary source of the red pyrope garnets so popular during Victorian times in central Europe around 1500. This source became the nucleus of a regional jewelry industry that reached its peak in the late 1800s. In 19th century Russia, green demantoid garnets from the Ural Mountains were prized by the Russian Royal Family and used by the great jeweler Peter Carl Faberge (1846-1920).
Symbolism:
Once believed to be connected with the blood, this gemstone is supposed to prevent the wearer from nightmares and offer guidance through gloomy times. Garnet is a powerfully energizing and regenerating stone. It cleanses and reenergizes the “chakras”. It revitalizes, purifies, and balances energy, bringing serenity or passion as appropriate. It is said to be able to warn of approaching danger and was long ago carried as a protective talisman. Garnet inspires love and devotion. It balances the sex drive and alleviates emotional disharmony. Red garnet aids sexual potency and is a stone of commitment. Square cut garnets are said to bring success in business matters. Psychologically, garnets sharpen your perceptions of yourself and other people. Mentally, garnets help you let go of useless or old or obsolete ideas. Emotionally, garnet removes inhibitions and taboos, opening up the heart, and bestows self-confidence.
Curious about your garnet birthstone’s health benefits? According to Indian astrology, garnet helps eliminate negative feelings (depression, guilt) and instill greater self-confidence and mental clarity to promote creative thinking and peace of mind. In ancient and medieval times, gems like garnet were also thought to be remedies for inflammatory diseases and to soothe the angry heart.
Namibia produces demantoids and bright green tsavorites.
Location:
Garnets come from many different regions and countries. Today, the African continent supplies much of the world’s garnets. Namibia is now producing demantoids and most of the bright green tsavorites in the market come from Kenya, Tanzania and Madagascar. Namibia and Tanzania are also key sources of the rich orange-to-yellow spessartine garnets. For many years, Southern California’s Little Three mining area was known for producing this spellbinding gem. The birthstone for January is also found in Myanmar, Brazil, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka, among other countries.
Care & Cleaning:
The different types of garnet range between 6.5 and 7.5 on the Mohs scale of hardness. This means that this birthstone is more susceptible to damage than rubies, sapphires and diamonds. So while not all garnets are good candidates for daily wear, they are ideal for earrings, brooches, necklaces and pendants. Give thought to how you store your garnet jewelry. If you let it rub against harder gems – again, think diamonds, rubies and sapphires – it can be scratched. And in turn garnet can scratch softer gems such as opal and pearls.
Most garnets are not treated. Rarely, however, some garnets might be fracture filled, whereby treaters try to improve the apparent clarity of the gem by filling surface-reaching breaks with a glass-like substance. Such treated stones require special care. Regardless, the use of a soft brush with warm soapy water is always safe for cleaning garnets. Ultrasonic cleaners are usually safe, except for stones that have fractures or have been fracture filled. Steam cleaning is not recommended.
Why We Love This Gemstone
Gemological Challenge: Figuring out how each new gem garnet fits into the six main mineral species is a challenge for gemologists.
Horsetail Inclusions: Horsetail inclusions in green demantoid garnet are one of the few internal features that increase a gem's value.
Fire: Due to demantoid garnet's high dispersion, well-cut, fashioned gems display an amazing amount of fire.
COLOR
Garnet includes affordable dark red varieties, rare and valuable greens, and many colors in between.
CLARITY
Garnet clarity often depends on garnet type. Red garnets often don’t have eye-visible inclusions.
CUT
Many garnets are cut into standard shapes and calibrated sizes to allow setting into manufactured jewelry.
CARAT
Garnets can be found in all sizes and weights, although some varieties are rare in large sizes.
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