In the Middle Ages (300 to 900 BC), Scandinavian and Asian jewelers used a technique called Cloisonné to decorate metal objects. The decorations consisted of compartments, with fine walls of silver or gold inlaid with cut garnet and rhodolite gemstones, glass or other materials. These objects, called cloisonnés were valued by royalty and those in power.
In 2009, a man using a metal detector discovered a large number of metal artifacts decorated with precious stones, including garnet, in farmland in Staffordshire, England. The 3,500 objects, known as the Staffordshire Hoard, were made in the 6th and 7th centuries and include weapons, religious artefacts and jewellery.
In the 14th century, deposits of pyrope-garnet were found in the area now known as the Czech Republic, where a gem cutting industry flourished until the 19th century.
Garnets have featured in a range of folklore and legends. In the Talmudic version of Noah’s Ark, the ark was lit up by a massive red garnet, which was sought after in the Middle Ages as a cure for depression. Between 1889 and 1892, the Hunsars used garnet bullets against the British in northern Pakistan. They believed that garnet was more effective than lead because it was red like blood.