January Birthday Gift Ideas: Garnet Jewelry

by Lucy

Phew! It’s January, and if you’re like most of the adult world, you can’t believe that another year of your life is over, and a new one has begun … ALREADY! If you’re still reeling from Christmas and rubbing your head after New Year’s Day, and you have a loved one to buy a birthday gift for this January, the easy and elegant choice is garnet. Best of all, this gemstone is certainly not a bank-balance breaker – we check out how it can be incorporated into beautiful garnet jewelry gifts this January.

Garnets have been used both as gemstones and abrasives since the Middle Ages(though we don’t really recommend using your jewelry for cleaning benchtops, etc!). Garnets come in a huge variety of colors, from shades of red through to yellow, as well as blue, green, purple, black and clear. However, when it comes to jewelry, you will find red and green garnets used almost exclusively. They have a deep maroon tinge, as opposed to rubies which tend towards pinkishness. They sit at around 7 on the Mohs scale of hardness (with 10 being a diamond), as many gemstones used in jewelry do. They are not highly refractive or ’sparkly’, but have a deep, clear luster.

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