Garnet
Friendships can be perceived as an array of colors to symbolize love, laughter, joy, healing and pain. Garnet, the birthstone of January holds these treasures true. Just as friendships are ever changing, garnet is the perfect birthday gift for a friend to signify eternal friendship and trust.
Garnet, derived from the word granatum, means “seed”, and is named for the gem’s resemblance to a pomegranate seed. They date back to 3100 BC, when Egyptians would set them in jewelry. In the late 19th century, over half of the merchandise displayed in jewellery stores consisted of various types of garnet.
Garnet is the name of a group of minerals that comes in a virtual rainbow of colors, from the deep red of the pyrope to the vibrant green of tsavorites. Each type of garnet varies in composition, hardness and mineralogical classifications. Today, these gems are mined in Tanzania, Sri Lanka and India and are said to be the gemstone of the future.