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.
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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.
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