January Birthstones

I have a birthday this month, and I love playing with gems, so I decided to provide a little information about January's birthstones. I will then subsequently create a similar post for each month this year. If you look up information about birthstones, you will learn that there are traditional and modern birthstones. For January, the traditional stones are garnet and rose quartz, and the modern birthstone is just garnet. Most people think of the color red with regard to garnet, but garnet actually comes in many colors. I sifted through my stash to give some examples. From top to bottom: traditional deep red garnet, rose quartz, mandarin garnet, hessonite (green garnet) and a brilliant Mozambique garnet. Garnet was once thought to be connected with the blood. This stone is supposed to protect the wearer from nightmares and offer guidance through the dark.