Rose Colored Birthstones for the New Year: January's Garnet & Rose Quartz

Welcome back to Rock Talk with Angel, and a very happy New Year to you! We hope 2025 brings you abundance, joy, and new adventures!

Today's post is about the classically rose-colored birthstones that January babies call their own; these two gems generally inspire strong feelings, either for or against wearing them. No matter your feelings, these romantic gems remain some of the most classic beauties in the birthstone world. January's primary birthstone is red Garnet, and the alternate birthstone is soft pink Rose Quartz.

Read on to discover 5 facts about each of these rosy, romantic gems!

5 Facts about Garnet

1. Garnet is actually a group of closely related silicate minerals, which all form in the same cubic (isometric) crystalline habits. Garnet varieties are part of an isomorphous replacement series--closely related compounds with elements, often metals, that switch placements, resulting in different colors and forms as the garnet series progresses from end to end. Garnets form in every color in nature except blue, including both clear and black. Garnets for the January birthstone are generally limited to the red varieties (almandine, pyrope, and occasionally pink-purple rhodolite garnets). Almandine is the most common variety of garnet in jewelry, and is responsible for its deep red classic shade. 

2. Garnets are part of the cubic (isometric) system, which means that they form geometric shapes like octahedra, cubes, and dodecahedra. For garnets, forms of dodecahedra are definitely the most common habit. Other isometric minerals include fluorite, pyrite, and more.

3. Garnets have been highly prized by many ancient cultures. Red garnets were worn by Egyptian pharaohs and the upper crust of society. In Rome, garnets were one of the most widely traded and carved gemstones, and it was also one of the four precious stones given to Solomon by God (under the name carbuncle, which garnets and sometimes other gems were known as).

4. The Bohemian garnets of the 1500s to their peak in the 1850s produced some of the finest pyrope garnet jewelry ever--it's still an important part of Czech culture and history, and we got to see the Czech Garnet museum on a recent trip to Prague.

5. Garnets in the modern day are prized for their healing properties as well as their durability. A 6.5-7.5 on moh's scale, garnets are around the same hardness as quartz, which makes them a suitable choice for jewelry. Like many gems, the healing properties ascribed to garnets are often organized by color--red garnets are often associated with strength, vitality, grounding, fidelity, and physical health, and the root chakra.

5 Facts about Rose Quartz

1. Rose Quartz is one variety of the wide, diverse Quartz family--this family includes crystalline quartz varieties like clear quartz, smoky quartz, amethyst, and citrine. It also includes all jaspers, all chalcedony, agates, flint, chert, and more. Rose Quartz is a massive form of quartz (massive here referring to forming in a mass, rather than a note on overall size). It gets its pink color from microscopic rutile inclusions, which normally present as golden or red needles to the naked eye--when incorporated as a microscopic inclusion, they produce a rosy glow.

2. Rose Quartz is one of the few gems that may produce asterism--a star of light which appears when light hits the fibers of a specific growth pattern. When fibers of inclusions align in a wheel-like pattern within the rose quartz, light may travel perpendicular to each face and split into multiple rays. This is very difficult to see unless the rose quartz is cut en cabochon or in a spherical form. "Star stones" are believed to be extra lucky and rare. Other stones capable of producing asterism include sapphires, rubies, diopside, and more.

3. Rose Quartz was first discovered in Mesopotamia--what is now modern-day Iraq--around 7,000 years BC. It has been used for healing properties for thousands of years by many different cultures. In Egypt, it was believed to prevent aging, and in Rome, it was worn as a signet by the upper levels of society. In Greece, the rosy gem was associated with Aphrodite, the goddess of love. 

4. In modern day gemstone healing, Rose Quartz is one of the most widely used and recognized gemstones for healing of the heart. It is associated with self-love, gentleness, relationships, and love in one's environment. Rose Quartz face rollers and gua shas are a particularly popular way of using this stone, which suggests the users believe it has a particularly soothing effect on the skin and body. 

5. Not all pink quartz varieties are technically rose quartz--it should not be confused with other similar materials. Hematoid and golden healer quartz are both caused by different forms of iron in the quartz, and strawberry quartz contains fine flecks of hematite. Crystallized pink quartz is a rare variety that forms in tiny crystals, yet it is not the same material as rose quartz (as rose quartz is always massive). Pink amethyst geodes, which superficially resemble crystallized pink quartz, are actually hematite-included purple amethyst. Rose Quartz is rarely dyed, and its bubble gum shades look quite different from the soft shades of natural rose quartz.

No gems are better for bringing a rosy glow to one's life and jewelry wardrobe as Garnet and Rose Quartz. Check back next month for February's deep, mysterious birthstone duo!

Which do you prefer: garnet or rose quartz, and why? Do you like pink gems in general for jewelry, or not your thing? Leave a comment below! Thanks for reading, and rock on my friends!

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