Garnet - January Birthstone

January's birthstone, garnet, is most commonly found in a rich, fiery red shade, although it can appear in other striking colours. The stone is a symbol of peace, prosperity and good health - all the things we toast when seeing in the new year!

It’s no coincidence the gem looks a bit like a pomegranate seed - the word 'garnet' comes from the Latin for 'seedlike'. Red garnet is one of the most common and widespread of gems, found in metamorphic rocks (which are rocks altered by heat and pressure) on every continent. But not all garnets are as abundant as the red ones. A green garnet, tsavorite, also occurs in metamorphic rocks, but it’s rarer because it needs unusual rock chemistries and special conditions to form.

Demantoid is a rare and famous green garnet, spessartine (also called spessarite) is an orange garnet, and rhodolite is a beautiful purple-red garnet. Garnets can even exhibit the colour-change phenomenon similar to the rare gemstone alexandrite.

Legend has it that garnet can bring protection to the home, but it's also said to symbolise deep and everlasting friendship, making it an ideal gift for someone you value and cherish.

Garnet comes in variety of colours.

At Kimjoux, it is our mission to create personal heirloom that's worthy of you, and we champion the women who writing her own story. It is a perfect fit that we fully support the Moyo Gem project, bringing you a stunning selection of gemstones that is responsibly sourced from the female miners of Tanzania.

Moyo Gemstones is an ethical gemstone collaboration born in Tanzania. We are working with female artisanal gem miners of the Umba Valley to assure rubies, sapphires, tourmaline, garnets, citrines, and amethysts, from mine to market. We work to empower women miners to work safely, mine better, improve financial security, and create stable, equitable markets for fair trade.

At the end of 2020, we were selected by industry professional and voted for by the public to be the winner of Collection of the year 2020 in Ethical Jewellery. Bespoke by Kimjoux is our proud winning collection which features only ethical gemstones.

Browse our winning collection here and let's create your personal collection that tell your story, using material and craftmanship that is worthy of you.