January's Birthstone- The Garnet
Garnets as a group are relatively common in highly metamorphosed rocks and in some igneous formations. They form under the high temperatures and/or pressures that those types of rocks must endure. Garnets can be used by geologists as a gauge of how much temperature and pressure the rock has endured. As a gemstone , garnets possess high indices of refraction, are hard enough, have pretty colors, are wonderfully transparent, lack cleavage and are durable; thus making good candidates for gemstones. Garnets are greatly variable in colors and varieties,and many of these are both rare and beautiful, producing genuinely precious gemstones. Some garnets are truly unique in the mineral kingdom and have much to offer as both gemstones and mineral specimens. The gemstone Garnet is the official birthstone for January as adopted by the American National Association of Jewelers in 1912. It is also the stone for the Zodiac sign Aquarius. Garnet may be giv...