2027 Forecast

January · Deep red

January birthstone: Garnet

The birthstone for January is Garnet. The modern and traditional lists agree here; they part company on only 2 of the 12 months.

1912 jewelers’ list
Garnet Kansas City, as Kunz records it
Older lists
Garnet · 7 of 8 Kunz’s tally of 8 old lists
January births
8.16% #9 of 12 months, US 2000–2014

Kunz 1913; US births 2000–2014.

The months either side, and the same month in flowers: December birthstone, February birthstone and January birth flower.

All twelve months, modern and traditional lists in one table: birthstones by month.

January Birthstone: Garnet — Meaning, Color and Flower
Modern birthstone Garnet
Traditional birthstone Garnet
Color Deep red
Birth flower Carnation and Snowdrop
Zodiac signs Capricorn, Aquarius
Hardness (Mohs) 6.5–7.5

Garnet has been the January stone since birth-month lists were first recorded, and it is one of the few months where the modern and traditional choices never diverged.

January stones in detail

Garnet

Composition Group of silicate minerals — almandine, pyrope, spessartine and others
Hardness · Crystal system 6.5–7.5 · Cubic
Mined in India, Brazil, Madagascar, Tanzania, Russia

Garnet is not one mineral but a family. Almandine gives the familiar deep red; tsavorite garnet is green and rarer than emerald.

Traditionally carried by travelers as a stone of safe return, and long associated with vitality and steady energy.

Care. Warm soapy water and a soft brush. Safe in an ultrasonic cleaner unless the stone is fractured.

Spotting a fake. Garnet is rarely faked because it is inexpensive. Glass imitations give themselves away by air bubbles under magnification and by feeling warm — garnet stays cool to the touch.

How Garnet became the January birthstone

Garnet takes its name from the Latin granatum, pomegranate, after the small red crystals that look like the fruit's seeds. Anglo-Saxon goldsmiths loved it: the gold fittings from the seventh-century Sutton Hoo ship burial are inlaid with thin-cut garnets fitted cell by cell. When American jewelers fixed the modern list in 1912, garnet kept January without argument, as it had in the older lists.

Choosing a January stone

Because red garnet is plentiful, a January stone can be generous in size without being expensive — a large garnet costs less than a small ruby. For something less expected, look at purplish-pink rhodolite or the bright orange spessartine. Bohemian garnet jewelry from the nineteenth century, set with many small stones, turns up regularly at auction and is often the best value of all.

Primary source

January in George Kunz’s Curious Lore of Precious Stones (1913)

The verse for January
“No gems save garnets should be worn By her who in this month is born; They will insure her constancy, True friendship and fidelity.”
George Frederick Kunz, The Curious Lore of Precious Stones (Philadelphia and London: J. B. Lippincott, 1913), chapter IX, “Birth-Stones” — read the original text. Kunz’s traditional stone for January is garnet, and the jewelers’ list adopted in Kansas City in 1912 kept it. In his tally of eight older lists, January went to garnet in 7 of them, hyacinth in 2 — some lists give a month two stones. Which lists Kunz compared, and where the verses come from →

January birth flowers

Carnation

Traditionally signifies devotion and admiration.

Snowdrop

Traditionally signifies hope and the first sign of thaw.

More on January birth flowers →

If you go by zodiac sign instead

January spans two signs — Capricorn and Aquarius — and the zodiac stone list does not match the monthly one. Which applies to you depends on the day, not just the month.

Capricorn stones · Aquarius stones

Questions about the January birthstone

What is the birthstone for January?

The modern January birthstone is Garnet.

What color is the January birthstone?

Deep red.

What is the January birth flower?

Carnation and Snowdrop; the carnation traditionally signifies devotion and admiration.

Is Garnet hard enough to wear every day?

Garnet rates 6.5–7.5 on the Mohs scale. It suits a ring worn daily; the thing to watch is chipped facet edges on the softer species.

What zodiac signs fall in January?

Capricorn and Aquarius.

Other months

February March April May June July August September October November December

Measured against our reference of 43 stones

The January stones, by hardness

Garnet · modern and traditional Mohs 6.5–7.5 · +0.65 vs average · everyday ring
Rose Quartz · alternative Mohs 7 · +0.65 vs average · everyday ring
Average across all 43 stones Mohs 6.35
Modern and traditional the same stone
January birthstones on the Mohs hardness scale
January birthstones on the Mohs hardness scaleMohs scale from talc (1) to diamond (10) with the January birthstones marked: Garnet 6.5–7.5.Garnet: Mohs 6.5–7.5Garnet 6.5–7.5Garnet: Mohs 6.5–7.5Amethyst: Mohs 7Citrine: Mohs 7Rose Quartz: Mohs 7Clear Quartz: Mohs 7Smoky Quartz: Mohs 7Aquamarine: Mohs 7.5–8Emerald: Mohs 7.5–8Bloodstone: Mohs 6.5–7Peridot: Mohs 6.5–7Sardonyx: Mohs 6.5–7Zircon: Mohs 6–7.5Carnelian: Mohs 6.5–7Onyx: Mohs 6.5–7Agate: Mohs 6.5–7Tiger's Eye: Mohs 6.5–7Aventurine: Mohs 6.5–7Diamond: Mohs 10Pearl: Mohs 2.5–4.5Alexandrite: Mohs 8.5Moonstone: Mohs 6–6.5Labradorite: Mohs 6–6.5Pyrite: Mohs 6–6.5Ruby: Mohs 9Sapphire: Mohs 9Spinel: Mohs 8Topaz: Mohs 8Opal: Mohs 5.5–6.5Rhodonite: Mohs 5.5–6.5Tourmaline: Mohs 7–7.5Turquoise: Mohs 5–6Lapis Lazuli: Mohs 5–6Hematite: Mohs 5–6Tanzanite: Mohs 6–7Jade: Mohs 6–7Obsidian: Mohs 5–5.5Malachite: Mohs 3.5–4Amber: Mohs 2–2.5Selenite: Mohs 2Fluorite: Mohs 4Sodalite: Mohs 5.5–6Kyanite: Mohs 4.5–7Lepidolite: Mohs 2.5–31Talc2Gypsum3Calcite4Fluorite5Apatite6Orthoclase7Quartz8Topaz9Corundum10Diamondfingernail 2.5window glass 5.5household dust (quartz) 7Source: Mohs scale minerals · ranges from our 43-stone referenceastrohot.com
January birthstones on the Mohs hardness scaleMohs scale from talc (1) to diamond (10) with the January birthstones marked: Garnet 6.5–7.5.Garnet: Mohs 6.5–7.5Garnet 6.5–7.51Talc2Gypsum3Calcite4Fluorite5Apatite6Orthoclase7Quartz8Topaz9Corundum10Diamondfingernail 2.5glass 5.5dust 7Source: Mohs scale minerals · ranges from our 43-stone referenceastrohot.com

January on the scale: Garnet 6.5–7.5. Of the twelve months’ first-listed modern stones, Garnet is joint 7th hardest.

Garnet: Group of silicate minerals — almandine, pyrope, spessartine and others. Crystal system Cubic. At Mohs 7 or above it survives everyday dust, which is quartz at exactly 7.

Who this month covers

Days in January 31
Capricorn · January 1–19 60.8% of January births
Aquarius · January 20–31 39.2% of January births

Capricorn takes the larger part of January, 19 days against 12 for Aquarius, which in US births for 2000–2014 came to 60.8% of the month. Exact sign dates →

Sources

  1. George Frederick Kunz, The Curious Lore of Precious Stones (Philadelphia and London: J. B. Lippincott, 1913), chapter IX, “Birth-Stones”

Statements of fact on this page were checked against these sources in October 2026. How we choose and check sources: editorial policy.

Cite this page

AstroHot. “January Birthstone: Garnet — Meaning, Color and Flower.” Accessed October 28, 2026. https://astrohot.com/birthstones/by-month/january/

For Wikipedia {{cite web |title=January Birthstone: Garnet — Meaning, Color and Flower |url=https://astrohot.com/birthstones/by-month/january/ |website=AstroHot |access-date=2026-10-28}}