January Birthstone: Garnet

january's birthstone word press 1      Favored by the ancient Egyptians and Romans, prized by nobility and clergy, the grand family of garnet has a  long history. Holding gems of every hue, garnet colors include fiery red, vibrant orange and rare intense-green. One green garnet, called tsavorite, is rare and needs rarer rock chemistries and conditions to form. The gem is mined in Kenya near Tsavo National Park. Demantoid is another rare and famous green garnet, which features horsetail inclusions that are one of the few internal features that increase a gem’s value. The imperial Russian jeweler Faberge created intricate jewelry designs for demantoid garnet.

Gem buyers may also select the deeply saturated purplish red of the rhodolite garnet. The striking stone is frequently found in larger carat weights. In 1996, a university student digging in central Australia unearthed what is believed to be the largest single garnet ever found. The giant weighed thousands of tons and measured nearly a hundred feet across.

Stop by and visit our showcase of garnet! From tsavorite to rhodolite to the deep reds of the regular gem, we have a garnet color to suit every taste.

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