Seeing Red: Garnet Rings

There are few pieces of jewellery more exquisite looking than garnet rings. Garnet is a beautiful maroon red precious stone that seems to look best when set in a ring made of yellow gold.  Yellow gold compliments the garnet, especially when there are 2 smaller diamonds on either sides of the garnet.  Garnet is fairly easy to cut and is often found in a variety of shaped and cuts because of that. As well, garnet represents love and is often given as a gift to someone special or close to you. Like a close friend, a family member, or a girlfriend.

When a garnet is set in white gold it tends to lose its impact.  White is a neutral color and makes the garnet look almost insignificant and is best left for colorless stones like diamonds as it emphasizes the diamond.  A garnet looks best in yellow gold as the yellow amplifies the garnet making it look bigger and more evident.  Two diamonds of smaller size on either side of the garnet which actually makes the garnet even more of a focal point.

Garnet is considered to be the symbol of love so it’s no surprise that you often see them cut into a heart . It’s also quite common to see these heart shaped garnets set into other jewellery to make a full set, being ear rings, necklace, and matching ring. Something that you may not know about garnet is that it can actually be found in all colors excluding blue, with green being  the hardest to find.  This is unfortunate as it is the most beautiful of them all and it is because of this that it can be priced anything between $20 to $4000 per carat!  

The lighter shades of red garnet are sometimes confused as a ruby, and the yellow as a very rare yellow topaz. Clearly garnet is a good money saver when you want to get someone a gift. Sometimes they use garnet after a series of diamonds because the garnet compliments the diamonds when they are lined up, giving the diamonds a slight tinge at certain angles. Jewellers also put these two together for their symbolism, diamonds being success and garnet being love, in other words have a successful love life. 

Garnet is a semi-precious stone and at the same time a precious stone. Beautiful in color and rich in diversity, this is one ring that you should hope to cross paths with next time it’s your anniversary…Start hinting now!