The July birthstone, a ruby, is regarded as the king of stones and stands for intelligence, love, and health. It was thought that the wearer of a fine red Ruby would have good fortune. The most expensive gemstone is a ruby, and the better the color and quality, the more valuable it becomes.
In This Article...
Is January a ruby or a garnet?
Garnet is the birthstone for anyone born in January. Beautiful gemstones like garnets can be used as pendants, earrings, rings, and other jewelry. The birthstone for January is red, which comes in both muted and vivid tones. Garnets come in a range of hues, but red is the color associated with January, according to tradition.
What month falls under the ruby birthstone?
One of the most sought-after stones is the ruby, which is the birthstone for July. The name is a translation of the Latin word ruber, which means “Red is the color of passion and love. The ruby birthstone is one of the few things that stands out. The July birthstone’s richest shade is a deep red with a tinge of purple dubbed “trade in the blood of pigeons. The color of ruby, a type of the mineral corundum, is caused by minute levels of chromium. The red is stronger the more chromium there is. Here is the information you need to choose a gorgeous July birthstone for yourself or a loved one who was born in the month of July.
What differentiates a garnet from a ruby?
Both garnet and ruby are deeply colored red stones. However, there are a few differences in their color, hue, and intensity that allow us to distinguish between garnet and ruby.
While garnet is colored red throughout the creation process by iron, ruby derives its red color from the presence of chromium microelements. Due to this variation, rubies have a deeper shade of red. Garnet appears a little bit lighter and whiter in contrast. Additionally, garnet has a warmer undertone and tends toward an orangy-yellowish color, whereas ruby has a cooler red undertone and occasionally appears purplish or bluish.
It’s also important to note that garnet is usually red, whereas rubies only come in red. However, garnet can also be pink, purple, brown, yellow, orange, green, black, and color-change, appearing blue in natural light and red or purple in artificial light.
The way the stone reflects light can also help you distinguish between garnets and rubies. Given that ruby absorbs green and yellow due to its chemical composition, a garnet is most likely what you are looking at if the gemstone reflects a rainbow of colors, including green and yellow.
Why is January garnet?
Although garnet, a gemstone that comes in a wide spectrum of hues, is most frequently associated with the color crimson, pink, green, orange, and purple variations are also becoming more and more popular. The birthstone for January was believed to ward against poisons, wounds, and evil nightmares as well as treat depression throughout the Middle Ages.
Are there two birthstones for each month?
Although each month has a single birthstone traditionally, certain months have numerous birthstones. This fact does cause some confusion, but the variety of possibilities for some months was developed to give customers a choice of less expensive selections in addition to the more typical, pricey stones.
The birthstone garnet is it?
Garnets are frequently thought of as red gems. Garnets actually come in a variety of hues. They originate from all across the world, and since the Bronze Age, people have used them as jewelry. Nowadays, most garnets are not stones of gem quality. Instead, they are largely employed as abrasives in industry. To create beautiful jewels, only rocks with the ideal size, color, and clarity are cut.
The Latin word granatus, which means seed, gave rise to the name garnet. Small garnet crystals resemble the crimson seeds of the pomegranate, therefore this could be a reference to that fruit.
For every day in 2022, view the moon’s phase. Lunar calendars from EarthSky are now available! Speeding up! Do so right now.
Characteristics of the January birthstone, garnet
A set of silicate minerals with slightly varied chemical makes up garnets. Garnet crystals may include different concentrations of calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese, aluminum, and chromium depending on the environment in which they developed. Due to these variations, garnets are found in a variety of hues, opacities, and hardnesses that range from 6.0 to 7.5 on the Mohs scale.
The majority of garnets are created during metamorphosis, which is the structural alteration of sedimentary rocks like shale under extreme heat and pressure. These circumstances exist where tectonic plates converge. Under these circumstances, minerals recrystallize into structures that are more tolerant of the high pressure and temperature present. Some turn into garnets. Garnets can also be found, though to a lower level, in igneous rocks like granite.
Garnets are hard, so even when weather erodes the metamorphic and igneous rocks they crystallized in, they largely maintain their shape. They end up as sediment, which eventually turns into soil, sand, or sedimentary rock. These formations provide garnets to miners since it is simpler to remove the crystals. Australia provides about half of the global supply. India, China, and the United States are further important sources.
Garnets come in many colors
Due to the presence of specific elements, garnets can have various colors. Almandine crystals are dark red, brownish-red, and black because it contains iron and aluminum. Because of magnesium and aluminum, pyrope garnets are red. Manganese and aluminum give spessartine its orange hue. Calcium and aluminum are present in grossular, which results in primarily green crystals as well as red, yellow, and cinnamon-brown ones. Due to calcium and iron, andradite garnets are red, yellow, brown, and green in color. Bright green gems are produced by the unusual calcium chromium garnet type known as uvarovite.
From completely opaque to translucent, garnets can fluctuate in opacity. Some garnets have inclusions, which are microscopic fragments of other rocks that reflect light to give the stone a star-like pattern. Under various lighting situations, inclusions can also make the gemstone appear to shift colors.
Garnets in history
Since the Bronze Age, people have used garnets. Jewelry made of red garnet and dating to 3100 BCE was found by archaeologists in the graves of Egyptian pharaohs.
The jewels were esteemed by both ancient Greeks and Romans. They wore garnet jewelry, such as signet rings with cut garnets for sealing documents with wax.
2009 saw the discovery of a sizable collection of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver metalwork in Staffordshire, England, thanks to the use of a metal detector. The objects, which go by the name Staffordshire hoard, are from the sixth and seventh centuries. 3,500 pieces of jewelry set with garnets are among them.
The discovery of garnet reserves in Bohemia (in the modern-day Czech Republic) at the beginning of the 16th century ignited a thriving garnet jewelry industry in Europe. Through the Victorian era, the gemstone was still in demand, but by the turn of the 20th century, demand had decreased.
Mythology behind the January birthstone
Garnets and other red gemstones like rubies and spinels are heavily entwined throughout early history and mythology. These crimson gems, known as carbuncles, were difficult for early jewelers to differentiate from one another.
Numerous urban legends surround garnets. Garnets were thought to bring victory by early warriors. They served as the Crusaders’ traveling defense against injuries and mishaps. Ancient Asian warriors, however, thought that burning garnet bullets caused more serious wounds. The Hanza tribesmen used garnet bullets instead of lead ones to attack British forces in 1892 during fighting along the Kashmir border because they thought they were more potent.
Like many costly stones, garnets were once thought to have therapeutic properties. People once believed that garnets could cure depression and protected the wearer from wounds, poisons, and unpleasant nightmares. They treated fever with red garnets and jaundice with yellow garnets.
Learn about the birthstones for other months of the year:
The garnet is the birthstone for January. Garnets come in a variety of colors, however red is the most common. These include yellow, green, orange, brown, and black.
What are the two most rare birthstones?
All gemstones, especially expensive gemstones, are thought to be relatively rare, yet some birthstones are more common than others. Although some highly expensive stones are not that rare, and vice versa, price tags can be deceiving when it comes to rarity. For instance, although expensive, April’s diamond is less rare than rubies, emeralds, and alexandrite. Speaking of alexandrite, it is now the most expensive and rarest gemstone on the list of birthstones. Additionally extremely rare, black opals are.
An intriguing technique to select jewelry is by birthstone. They enable people to investigate jewels that they might otherwise avoid. However, birthstones are not always what people think they are, so make sure you are buying birthstone jewelry for the right reasons while making your selection.
What stands for a ruby?
The purpose of rubies What do they stand for? Rubies are frequently linked to wealth and success. Due to their associations with riches and bravery, rubies were frequently used as crown decorations in ancient times. The intense red hue of the ruby is associated with passion, love, and unadulterated feeling.
Long ago, people thought that Mother Earth’s blood could be found in rubies. The stones were highly prized because it was believed that they contained the secret to life itself. According to some myths, sapphires may transform into rubies if they remained in the ground for a long enough period of time. Others claim that rubies could predict future bad luck. Before an occurrence of bad luck, the stones would turn a dark red color, giving the user time to get ready.
