Garnet
A Family of Colors
 When most
people think garnet, they see only images of a dark red gemstone. But
look a little deeper into garnet’s many varieties, and you’ll discover
every color of the rainbow except blue. Few gems can rival garnet in the
diversity of colors available. The green of summer grass, the gold of
freshly harvested wheat, the orange of fiery hot steel, the pink of a
delicate rosebud – garnet offers all these colors and more.
Garnet’s popularity dates back more than 5,000 years to ancient
Egypt, where the gems were worked into beads or set into hand wrought
jewelry. Jewelry set with dark red garnets from Czechoslovakia was
extremely popular in the nineteenth century. Pieces set with these
Bohemian garnets are still in high demand today for their beauty and
uniqueness. Today’s gemstone collector knows that garnet offers a myriad
of color choices in every shade imaginable, except blue.
Birthstone
Garnet is the birthstone for January.
Origins
Garnets are mined in many locales around the world. Some of its more
important sources include Africa, Australia, Brazil, India, Madagascar,
Russia, Sri Lanka and the United States.
Treatments
There are no treatments commonly used to enhance garnet.
Care
Garnet is both hard and durable. Garnet can be cleaned using an
ultrasonic cleaning machine, any commercial jewelry cleaner or plain
soap and water using a soft brush. Be sure to rinse and dry your jewelry
thoroughly after cleaning.
Photo: Robert Weldon,
Professional Jeweler Magazine © 2002-2005 Jewelers of
America |
Member
American Gem Society