Garnet: Pyrope, A Beautifully Red Gem

Pyrope was particularly favored as a gem in the Victorian "Grand Period". It was then called bohemian garnet, and was used quite a bit in mid-Victorian jewelry.

Deposits of pyrope garnets were greatly mined around Czechoslovakia, in Trebenice; and that's why the gem's name included the word "Bohemian". However, the Gemological Institute of America (GMI) frowns upon the term.

Pyrope style garnet has many different names other than bohemian, two of which are chrome pyrope (perhaps because chromium is part of its chemical makeup) or carbuncle(a very old name, people don't use it much nowadays except in old stories). There are more deceptive terms, some of which are:

American Ruby
Arizona Ruby
Australian Ruby
Bohemian Ruby
California Ruby
Colorado Ruby
Elie Ruby
Rocky Mountain Ruby

As you can see, the term "ruby" is used to make people think the gem is of a different composition.

Some sources say pyrope comes from a Greek word meaning 'fire like', while others claim it comes from the Greek words for 'fire' and 'eye.'

Something I really was amazed by was that in 1892, during battles along the Kashmir frontier, the Hanza tribesmen fired on British soldiers with garnet bullets, believing them to be more effective than lead bullets. Truth can be stranger than fiction!

On a side note, the Garnet Hill Recreation Area near Ely, Nevada lets people mine for garnets for free. Maybe I'll go sometime, and take some friends with me!