The January birthstone, garnet, is surrounded by folklore and was known for its healing properties. This beautiful gem’s name references the bright-red pomegranate fruit, although it actually comes in a diverse range of colors. Learn all about the garnet’s history, meaning and symbolism!
Garnet’s Diverse Colors
While best known for its deep red hue (given its close association with the pomegranate), garnet naturally occurs in a range of colors, including greens, yellows, and even blues. Garnets can range in appearance from completely opaque to transparent.
Garnet is actually made up of many minerals, including pyrope, almandine, spessartine, grossular, andradite, and uvarovite, which are important as gems.
- Pyrope is exclusively red, and is the stone most widely associated with early jewelry pieces.
- Almandine range from deep red to brownish red and black, while spessartine is found to be mostly orange.
- Andradite can be red, yellow, brown, and green, and grossular is commonly green, but may also be brown-red or yellow.
- Uvarovite is a rare, bright green garnet.
Legends & Lore 