Garnet is the birthstone of people who celebrate their birthdays in the cold, wet, and windy month of January. This gender-neutral gemstone looks just like a ruby; however, garnet doesn’t come with a hefty price tag, making it an affordable alternative to the expensive rubies gemstones.

What is Garnet?

Garnet is a name given to a group of silicate minerals, usually found in form of deep red crystals.

The word garnet is derived from a Latin word Granatus, from Granum, meaning grain or seed. The reason behind the name is that garnet stones resemble pomegranate seeds – they have the same size, shape, and color.

Garnet stones were very popular among Egyptian pharaohs and the Romans – they wore garnet rings and also traded it.

The Anglo-Saxons were also known for using garnet stones in jewelry. According to legends, the king of Saxony had a huge garnet that weighed more than 465 carats.

It is also said that Plato asked a Roman engraver to carve his portrait on a garnet stone.

Where it is found?

While garnets are found all over the world, the following countries are some of the more well-known producers and supplier of the stones:

• United States – it is the state gemstone of New York
• Turkey
• Australia
• Russia
• China
• India

Varieties of Garnet

While all types of garnet share similar physical properties and are usually found in crystal form, they have different chemical compositions.

Garnet stones can be categorized into different types on the basis of metal ions in their structure – they may have aluminum, calcium, iron, chromium, or magnesium.

Here are a few varieties of garnet:

• Almandine

Most commonly found variety of garnet, Almandine stones are found in deep red, reddish-brown, and black color. These transparent stones are widely used as gemstones. Almandine garnets are also the hardest of all types of garnets, measuring 7.5 to 8 on Mohs’ scale of mineral hardness.  

• Grossular

Grossulars are unique because they are colorless when pure, but can obtain a wide range of colors due to impurities. A gossular garnet can be purple, gray, yellow, white, brown, red, orange, pink, and green. No other type of garnet has such a wide color range.

• Pyrope   

The red colored pyrope is the most popular type of garnet gemstone and is widely used in different jewelry items.

• Spessartite

With a very high refractive index, this type of garnet has a special brilliance, making it unique from other types.

While they are commonly found in orange or orange-red color, Spessartite garnets may also occur in pink, yellow, red, or brown. The variance in color is due to the type and amount of iron impurities in the stone.

• Rhodolite

The composition of Rhodolite garnet falls between almandine and pyrope due to which it is considered an intermediate of the two varieties. The color of Rhodolite garnet leans more towards purple than red because it has more magnesium than iron.

• Tsavorite

The trade name for the emerald green garnets, Tsavorite stones not only have the color, but they also look like emeralds. However, they are very rare. Tsavorites are believed to get their color due to vanadium or chromium impurities. These stones do not have any inclusions and are usually flawless.

• Urarovite

One of the rarest types, Urarovite garnet occurs in dark chrome green little crystals. Due to its rarity and small size, it is not commonly used in jewelry.

There are also many different varieties of synthetic garnets.

Uses of Garnet

Some of the most common uses of garnet stones are as follows:

• Gemstones

Red colored garnets were among the most commonly used gemstones in ancient Rome, during the Late Antiquity. They can also be seen in the artwork of the Migration Period – from 300 to 700 CE – in Europe.

• Industrial Uses

Garnets that are extracted from hard rock are mixed with high pressure water to cut steel and many other materials in water jets.

The stone is used as:

• Abrasive-blasting  mineral
• Abrasive powder
• Sanding paper, belt, strip, and disc

Garnet sand is used for water filtration and garnet paper is widely used to finish bare wood, by cabinet makers.

Health, Mental and Spiritual Benefits Garnet Is Believed To Offer

In many cultures, Garnet is believed to have the power to heal and revitalize your body by removing toxins and negative energies. People believe that garnet stones can cleanse your mind, body, and spirit and helps you to achieve, maintain, or regain the balance in your life. It can also help regain emotional stability and thus, is believed to help people going through difficult times.

It also helps a person to harness inner strength and creativity, promotes self-empowerment, as well as clear and higher thinking. By strengthening your creative abilities and enabling you to use them, garnet is believed to bring inspiration and passion to your life.

Garnet is also considered a powerful talisman.  It is believed to have protective powers – it offers protection during travel and can also help get rid of night terrors and nightmares. It is supposed to help convert negative energies into positive ones.

Garnet stones are also believed to offer many health benefits, such as:

• Detoxification of blood
• Improving metabolism
• It helps to regulate blood pressure and internal rhythms. This makes it effective for people suffering from cardiovascular issues
• Relieving pain that’s associated with rheumatism and arthritis
• It can help in purification and regeneration of your body.

By helping you get rid of negative energies and achieve emotional stability, garnet stones are believed to help in decision-making. They strengthen willpower and confidence and are thus considered great for businessmen.

By harnessing positive energies, garnet brings wealth and prosperity, but keeps you grounded and grateful.

During ancient and medieval times, garnets were also considered to help treating inflammatory diseases as well as to soothe anger.

The red colored garnet is considered a symbol of love and romance and is thought to make a relationship last long.