Garnets the January Gemstone...

Garnet Gemstone History and Lore


Garnet gemstones have been used in jewelry and other ways for many thousands of years. According to the ancient Jewish text the Talmud, a garnet provided the only source of light on Noah's Ark. Garnet jewelry has been found in Egyptian, Greek and Roman ruins. Garnet was also a symbol of one of the original 12 tribes of Israel and a birthstone. Some Asiatic tribes fashioned garnets into bullets believing that they would be more lethal than lead bullets. Garnet is also believed to protect its wearer from evil and disaster.

Ancient History of Garnets

Garnets has always been extensively used throughout the East and amongst the Greeks and Romans. The Romans frequently used them for engraving, with several fine specimens of Imperial portraits, including those of the emperors, have come down to us in this way. In India and throughout the Far East it was known as an Amulet against poison and the plague, worn to attract health and cheerfulness, and as a protection against lightning.

History of Garnets - Middle Ages

During the middle ages it was used as a remedy for the plague, or the Black Death, and inflammatory diseases. Garnets were also worn to confer constancy, fidelity, and cheerfulness to its rightful wearers, but was said to cause discord amongst those having no right to it by birth. Like the Ruby, the garnet warned its owner of approaching danger and trouble by changing its color, and was much in vogue at one time as a keepsake between friends at parting.

The word garnet comes from a Latin word meaning pomegranate. A thriving garnet jewelry and cutting industry based on the very popular red pyrope garnets was started in Czechoslovakia in 1500. Until the nineteenth century it was the world’s largest source of gem garnets. These fiery red pyrope garnets were very popular in Victorian jewelry. The discovery of a bright green Grossularite garnet in East Africa in the late 1960’s that was named “Tsavorite” by the Tiffany’s jewelry firm that also named and popularized the blue lavender zoisite gemstone as Tanzanite. This very exciting discovery brought the gemstone and jewelry industries a new color of garnet that can rival emerald in its luminescent green color. The discovery of a fiery orange variety of spessartite garnet on the Angola-Namibian border in the 1980’s also rocked the gemstone and jewelry world. The incredible radiant orange garnet, the likes of which had never been seen before was a major development in bringing garnet to the forefront of exciting gemstones.

Today this beautiful and exciting colored stone is used throughout the jewelry world as a favorite of many more than the January babies. It is a mid priced stone and depending on what it is set in can be affordable for all. Although I am a September girl one of the favorites in my jewelry collection is a cross of garnets set in sterling silver. Maybe it does have some of those old powers because it makes me happy every time I wear it.

Do you have garnet jewelry? I would love to hear your comments about your pieces and feelings about this wonderful stone.