This brooch belonged to my mother who would have been 91 this month. I remember her wearing it on numerous occasions; it was one of her favourites especially for an evening out. It is made of Pyrope Garnet a blood red garnet and almost certainly from Czechoslovakia and late 19th century. Pyrope garnets were used in the late 19th century in Czechoslovakia and Germany and are sometimes known as Bohemian garnets.

Garnets are found all over the world and though various shades of red are the most frequent colours, there are many different shades of garnets – green, pale to bright yellow, fiery orange, purple. Blue is the only colour not found.

Garnet is the birth stone for January. For my niece who was born in January I bought as a christening present a garnet (Pyrope) pendant.