I’m so excited to share with you this month’s featured stone! It’s no coincidence I’m highlighting garnet, it’s January’s birthstone and is perfect for warming you up during these long winter nights.
If you follow along with my One-of-a-Kind collections (click here to take a look), you know that I love using garnet in my jewelry designs. It’s such an elegant and beautiful stone to work with, pairs effortlessly with lace, and makes for some perfectly moody winter collections.
To give garnet the attention it deserves I’ve put together a few interesting facts for you. You’ll find that it’s truly stood the test of time and has never looked more fabulous doing so!
January Birthstone meaning
If you’re born in January, lucky you! Garnet is your birthstone. It’s said to bring love, passion, peace, luck, health, loyalty, and deep friendships. Just about covers everything you could want in life, what more could you ask for?
Roses are red, garnets are too
The most popular color of garnets you’ll usually see are a lovely and luscious range of deep reds (like this custom ring I made for a dear friend of mine). But did you know garnet comes in all sorts of other colors too? Though a bit more rare than red, garnet gemstones come in lovely shades of purples, greens (like this One-of-a-Kind set, click here to shop the look) and some are transparent or even change color in the light! It’s the perfect stone for when you’re looking to show off your love of color.
Hearty & Tough
Though garnet is looked at as the stone of love, passion, and romance...that doesn’t make it any less tough! It’s one of the few gemstones used for industrial work, like water-jet cutting and abrasive blasting, (don’t worry I had to look up what that meant too). It’s a very hearty stone which makes it really durable and very hard to scratch.
Do as the Romans do
Garnet has been used by many different cultures dating back to the Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, Chinese, and was even found to be used by the Navajo Indigenous peoples. It can be traced all the way back to 3800 BC in Egyptian jewelry and decor.
I’ve been having the most wonderful time playing with so many different stones for my One-of-a-Kind collections. But I have to say, garnet has been a favorite of mine to design with.
It’s so classic, elegant, and really makes you feel like the queen you are when you wear it (not that you need jewelry to feel like a queen!). You can click here to take a look at all of the garnet pieces I’ve made this year, get ready to fall in love ❤️
