Garnets show up throughout history, starting back in the Bronze Age, and in Egypt as far back as 3,000 B.C. In ancient Rome, signet rings with carved Garnets were used to stamp the wax that secured important documents. The term carbuncle was often used in ancient times to refer to red Garnets, although it was used for almost any red stone. In a religious context, carbuncle was thought to be one of the four precious stones given to King Solomon by God.
Thousands of years ago, red garnets were adorned by Egyptian pharaohs and were entombed with their mummified corpses as prized possessions for the afterlife. Garnet is the birthstone for January and is the gem for the second anniversary of marriage, Pyrope gets its name from the Greek word (pyropos) which means fire-eyed.