Garnet as gemstones. The gemstone varieties occur in shades of green, red, yellow, and orange. In the US it is known as the birthstone for January. It is the state mineral of Connecticut, New York's gemstone, and star garnet (garnet with rutile asterisms) is the state gemstone of Idaho. Garnet sand is a good abrasive, and a common replacement for silica sand in sand blasting. Alluvial garnet grains which are rounder are more suitable for such blasting treatments. Mixed with very high pressure water, garnet is used to cut steel and other materials in water jets. For water jet cutting, garnet
The Garnet Bracelet had a real basis, judging by Kuprin's October 15 letter to Fyodor Batyushkov. "What I do today is polish The Garnet Bracelet. This is - remember it? - the sad story of a minor telegraph clerk named P.P. Zheltikov who so hopelessly, touchingly and selflessly fell in love with Lyubimov's wife (D.D. is now a Vilno governor)... But the progress is difficult." "Perhaps that is because I am musically ignorant. Besides, this high society language!” he complained in the November 21 letter. By December 3 the work hasn't been finished yet. "I'd rather not haste with this piece which is