Garnets have an interesting history found to date back to the Bronze Age. It was a common medium for the earliest lapidary and glyptic arts. Garnet was believed to be a powerful talisman, a protective gem carried by the earliest travellers. In ancient Egypt, every tomb of status included garnet jewellery to ease the owner’s passage into the afterlife.
Read more: Garnet : A colourful history & fashionable future
Jewellery associated with the Chinese culture is synonymous with Jade. For thousands of years though, Jadeite, Nephrite, Serpentine and even Aventurine Quartz were all covered by one Chinese word “Yu”. It was not until the 1800’s that the differences between these materials were identified and Jade was properly categorised!