Red Heart Necklaces - Garnets and Rubies

A garnet is a natural choice for a gift of love, as this gemstone symbolizes love and compassion.  It's also said to increase a lady's passion for her true love.  (Read between the lines!)  

This dark red beauty shown below is a natural garnet cut in the shape of a heart.  It comes accented with three natural white topaz gemstones, and comes on a 14 k gold chain.  

Other significant meanings for the garnet:   It's the January birthstone, as well as the official gemstone for New York, and also Connecticut's state mineral.  They are believed to promote success in business, and represent faithful friends.

Gernet is a Middle English word meaning dark red, and that's where the name garnet comes from. 

Although we think of the garnet as a dark red gemstone, that's not always the case.  While red is the most common color, they are also found in other colors, including green, yellow, orange, purple, brown, pink and blue.  

There is even a rare color changing garnet that resembles the Alexandrite. 

They can be either clear or opaque.  The clearer ones are more often used in jewelry, while opaque ones have industrial uses, especially as abrasives.

  Image: A dark red garnet, image via Wikimedia Commons 

If you're the adventurous type, you can go mining for your own garnets. 

In New York's Adirondack Mountains, you can tour the Barton Garnet Mine, and even prospect for your own beautiful red gems!

The four precious stones are:

• Diamond
• Emerald
• Ruby
• Sapphire

Rubies and Sapphires are a form of the mineral called Corundum.  Corundum is one of only a few naturally occurring clear (transparent) minerals, and comes in a wide variety of colors, depending on what "impurities," or elements are present.  If that element happens to be chromium, then the corundum will be reddish in color, and that makes it a ruby, the most valuable form of the mineral.

 To learn more about the various colors of corundum, and jewelry produced from it, see this article.

The ruby is the birthstone for July, and is said to symbolize royalty, vitality, friendship, love, devotion, and happiness.  

A raw, uncut Ruby

In ancient times, rubies were laid into the foundation of buildings to ensure good fortune.

It is second only to diamond in hardness value, and can be just as valuable... in some cases, more so. 

From a color standpoint, rubies are a less deep red color than garnets, and may even be in the pinkish red range.

♥  Nothing says "I love you" like a red heart.  ♥