Ask most people and they'll tell you Garnet Stones are a lovely red gemstone. What most people don't know is that Garnet Stones is actually a group of stones that range widely in color.
 
Garnet Stones derive its name from the Latin "granatus," meaning "like a grain," and is the birthstone of January. Garnet Stones occur as a result of a combination of the chemical elements calcium, magnesium, aluminum, iron, chromium, manganese, and titanium.

The resulting Garnet Stones have a hardness rank of 6.5 to 7.5 on the Mohs hardness scale.

Garnet Stones actually refers to a group of more than 10 different gemstones with the same basic chemical structure. While most people assume that all Garnet Stones are red, they can actually be any of the following: purple, red, orange, yellow, green, brown, black, or colorless.

Almandite refers to a reddish-brownish version of Garnet Stones first found in the Asia Minor centuries ago. It can also be called Oriental Garnet Stone, almandine ruby, and carbuncle.

Garnet Stones of Grossular can be colorless, orange, or green. One of the most valuable forms of Garnet Stone is the green grossular garnet mined in Kenya and Tanzania, called tsavorite. Pyrope is the traditional red garnet stone, although it can range from red to black.

Spessartite Garnet Stones occurs most often in granite and is usually orange, pink, or brown. It can be found in Madagascar, but also in parts of the United States such as Colorado and Maine. Uvarovite Garnet Stones is a rare, green garnet stone found in small crystals in Russia and Finland.