Birthstones

Happy Belated New Year! How time flies … it’s the end of January already!

The 'birth' of a new year seems a good time to talk about birthstones, so let’s take a quick look at January’s birthstone … garnet. Most people associate garnet as being a dark, brownish disappointing red stone. Actually, garnet comes in many beautiful colors … purplish red, green, yellow, and orange!

Garnets have a long history dating back to Biblical times, representing life, vitality, love and a guiding light. My favorite garnets are rhodolite, spessartine and tsavorite.

Rhodolite is a bright, raspberry red garnet. It is beautiful when set in rose gold.

Spessartine is a lovely, rich orange garnet, first dicovered in Germany. It is nicely suited for a yellow gold setting.

Tsavorite is a rich, green garnet which rivals an emerald in appearance. They are the highest priced gems in the garnet family. Tsavorite is generally found in East Africa and is beautiful when set in either white or yellow gold.

Garnets are rarely treated to enhance their color whereas other colored gemstones might be. Clean only with warm soapy water and a soft toothbrush.