is something we hear often.

If your birthday is in January, you cannot use this excuse. The garnet family, in our humble opinion, is the most fascinating of all gemstones. The deep red (also known as a “Cape Ruby”) has many cousins and not all of them are yet famous.

The demantoid garnet is a bright green that sparkles more than a diamond. It is found only in Russia and Namibia. Staying with green, what about tsavorite? It’s intense green rivals the colour of emeralds.

If your tastes run more towards the purples and pinks, consider rhodolite, raspberry or the most recent find: grape garnets.  For the more adventurous we can offer colour-changing or andradite garnets. And if you like orange, nothing beats the brilliance of a mandarin garnet.

If you would like to know more about garnets, give us a call or pop in and see these beauties for yourself.