January birthstone
Garnet
The January birthstone is garnet. Garnet is not one mineral but a family of them, which is why it appears in everything from the dark, almost black reds of Victorian mourning jewelry to the bright raspberry of a rhodolite. It sits at 6.5 to 7.5 on the Mohs scale, hard enough for daily wear in a protected setting, and it is one of the best value colored stones in antique jewelry.
- Species
- A family of related minerals, most often almandine, pyrope or rhodolite
- Color range
- Deep red through to orange, and rarely green
- Mohs hardness
- 6.5 to 7.5
- Also this month
- Nothing else on the modern US list
Garnet has been set in jewelry for thousands of years, and it turns up in almost every European period we handle. The Victorians used it constantly, partly because Bohemian mines in what is now the Czech Republic were producing enormous quantities of small, intensely red pyrope garnets, and partly because the color read as warm and sentimental rather than showy.
Bohemian garnet jewelry is a category of its own. Dozens of tiny rose cut or faceted garnets are set shoulder to shoulder in gilt metal or low karat gold so the whole surface glows. Because the stones are small and the metal is modest, these pieces are still remarkably affordable, and they are unmistakably nineteenth century.
Larger single garnets appear in Georgian and early Victorian rings, often foiled behind a closed back to lift the color, and again in the Retro years in big, warm, sculptural gold mounts. Green demantoid and tsavorite garnets exist too and are far rarer, so treat any green garnet as a stone that deserves a proper report.
In antique and vintage jewelry
Bohemian clusters and rosettes, foiled Georgian and early Victorian rings with closed backs, cabochon carbuncles, and large faceted stones in Retro gold.
Wearing and caring for it
Garnet takes normal wear well but can chip on an exposed edge, and a foiled closed back stone must never be soaked. Warm water, mild soap and a soft brush, then dry it fully. Keep it out of ultrasonic cleaners.
As a gift
A garnet reads as personal rather than formal, which makes it an easy first antique piece to give. Bohemian pieces sit at the affordable end, while a large Georgian or Retro stone is a proper occasion gift.
Common questions
Is garnet always red?
No. Garnet is a family of minerals and occurs in red, orange, pink, brown and green. Red is by far the most common in antique European jewelry, and green demantoid and tsavorite garnets are much rarer.
Is garnet hard enough for an engagement ring?
At 6.5 to 7.5 on the Mohs scale it is softer than sapphire or diamond, so it will pick up surface wear over decades. In a bezel or a protected setting it is perfectly wearable, but expect it to need repolishing sooner than a harder stone.
What is Bohemian garnet?
Small pyrope garnets from the Bohemian region, set in dense clusters in nineteenth century jewelry. The stones are individually modest, but massed together they produce the deep red glow the style is known for.
Shop the pieces
Shop garnet jewelry
Antique and vintage pieces set with garnet, each one a single example.
Nothing matching this is available right now. Every piece is a single example and sells once, so this changes weekly. Browse everything in stock or ask our buyers to look for it.