History of the Garnet
Thousands of years ago, garnet jewellery was often worn by the Egyptian pharaohs, and the gemstones were often entombed with their mummified corpses as prized possessions to be taken with them into the afterlife.
The oldest recorded piece of garnet jewellery was found in a grave in Egypt and is more than 5,000 years old. It is thought that this red garnet bead necklace was made around 3800 BC.
The name garnet comes from the Latin word ‘garanatus’, which translates to ‘seedlike’, in reference to smaller garnets resembling the seeds of a pomegranate.
The red garnet’s availability increased hugely after the discovery of the famous Bohemian garnet deposits in central Europe around the year 1500. This particular source of garnet became the hub of mining for the gemstone and reached its peak in the 1880s.
The garnet enjoyed a period of popularity in Europe throughout the 18th and 19th centuries and was frequently used in jewellery in the Victorian era.
Image: Andrew Geoghegan “Cannelé Cabochon” Mandarin Garnet Ring