Garnets : The Most Uncommon Common Gem In History

Perhaps the most common and abundant of all gemstones

, the garnet is far more than just the deep red gem that is typically visualized. They actually come in nearly all colors and shades, and there are six distinct species, classes or groups of garnets.

No matter the specific group, all garnets are silicate minerals containing silicon and oxygen, and more specifically they are known as nesosilicates. They are relatively hard, typically ranging between 7.0 and 7.5 on the Mohs scale and therefore they are used in a variety of industrial applications today. This includes water filtration and more commonly, for abrasive usage including sandpaper and steel cutting.

Silicate minerals make up as much as 90% of the Earth's crust and therefore garnets have been found all over the globe. This means they are produced today in a vast number of countries, and different regions are known to produce garnets holding specific colors or properties.

This also means that garnets were undoubtedly the most widely used gemstone in the ancient world. Essentially every ancient society, civilization or culture incorporated garnets in some way dating back to over 5,000 years ago and the beginning of the Bronze age.

Garnets were found to have a massive range of applications in the ancient world. They were believed to offer protection and light, and were therefore buried with people in Egypt, brought into battle by European warriors, used on weaponry in China and Japan and adorned on shields by Native Americans.

The Persians believed them to be the royal stone, and garnets have several references in the Bible and Koran. The Greeks believed they could protect against and heal people from poisonings, a belief also shared by people in the Middle Ages.

Garnets are believed to increase self esteem and willpower, guard against depression, offer light, guidance and happiness and much more. They are used as symbols of friendship of trust, as purity and truth, of awareness, insight and commitment. The range of interpretations, meanings and uses both in the ancient world and today is truly vast.

Due to their worldwide prevalence and abundance, garnets are a very affordable and accessible gemstone when compared to the others. They are the birthstone for the month of January and while the dark red garnet is most commonly known and appreciated, garnets of all colors from green to yellow to orange are beloved.

It is certainly more than a coincidence that for thousands of years, different civilizations with no contact with one another all brought the garnets into their lives and belief systems, and surely we will continue to do the same for generations to come.

by: Steve Gerencser

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