How to clean it
Warm soapy water and a soft brush. Safe in an ultrasonic cleaner unless the stone is fractured.
Deep red to orange, green, purple
Garnet
The birthstone for January.
Properties
Composition
Group of silicate minerals — almandine, pyrope, spessartine and others
Hardness (Mohs)
6.5–7.5
Crystal system
Cubic
Colour
Deep red to orange, green, purple
Mined in
India, Brazil, Madagascar, Tanzania, Russia
Worth knowing
Garnet is not one mineral but a family. Almandine gives the familiar deep red; tsavorite garnet is green and rarer than emerald.
History
Used since the Bronze Age; Egyptian garnet inlays date to roughly 3100 BCE.
Practical
Caring for Garnet
How to tell it is real
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.
One general rule covers most mistakes: never store stones loose together. Diamond at 10 on the Mohs scale scratches everything else you own, and it does not need much contact to do it.
What that hardness means in practice
Matches quartz, so ordinary dust will not scratch it. Fine for rings, though decades of wear will show at the edges.
Traditional associations
Garnet is traditionally carried by travellers as a stone of safe return, and long associated with vitality and steady energy. In chakra systems it is placed at the Root, and in elemental correspondence it is assigned to Fire.
These are cultural associations recorded across various traditions, not claims about physical effects. The composition and hardness above are measurable; this paragraph is folklore, and worth reading as such.
Questions
What is Garnet made of?
Group of silicate minerals — almandine, pyrope, spessartine and others, crystallising in the cubic system.
Which month is Garnet the birthstone for?
January.
Where does Garnet come from?
India, Brazil, Madagascar, Tanzania, Russia.
How do I clean Garnet?
Warm soapy water and a soft brush. Safe in an ultrasonic cleaner unless the stone is fractured.
How can I tell if Garnet is real?
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.
Can I wear it every day?
At 6.5–7.5 on the Mohs scale, yes — it resists everyday scratching.