Garnet has been used as a gemstone for over 5000 years. It has been found in the jewelry of many Egyptian burials and was the most popular gemstone of Ancient Rome. It is a beautiful gem that is usually sold without treatment of any kind. It is also durable and common enough that it can be used in jewelry at a relatively low cost.

Garnet continues as a popular gemstone today. It serves as a birthstone for the month of January and is a traditional gem given on a second anniversary. Most people will think of a red gemstone when they hear the name “garnet” because they are not aware that garnet occurs in a variety of colors. However, gem-quality garnets occur in every color – with red being the most common and blue garnets being especially rare.

Red almandine is the red garnet most often found in jewelry because it is abundant and inexpensive. Pyrope and spessartine are reddish garnets that are commonly encountered in jewelry for the same reason. In recent decades, green demantoid garnet has become popular. It has a dispersion of 0.057 that gives it a “fire” which exceeds that of diamond’s at 0.044. Green tsavorite has a bright, rich color that is very much like emerald. It is commonly used as an alternative stone to emerald. Both of these green garnets are becoming more popular, but their price is much higher than almandine.