Treasure Hunting

The name garnet is used to describe a large class of gemstones that can be almost any color of the spectrum and range in hardness from 6.0 to 7.5 on the Mohs scale. Usually, people associate the word with the deep red January gemstone.

The etymology of the word garnet is quite interesting. It is related to the same root as the word pomegranate, most likely because the small red seeds of the fruit resemble garnets.

The garnet is believed to hold many metaphysical properties including those of healing, strength, and protection. At one point in history, garnets were exchanged between friends as a demonstration of mutual admiration and hopes to see one another again. It is even said that Plato once had his portrait engraved on a garnet!

Garnets can be found all over the world, but a very beautiful variety was discovered in Madagascar in the 1990s. On of the unique properties of this variety is that it can change color from a deep blue-green in normal light to a purple in incandescent light. A picture of this gem can be found here.