Red garnet beads, gems of fire and brilliance, have been treasured since ancient times. The Egyptians wore garnet beads as early as 3100 B.C.  In the 3^rd and 4^th centuries B.C. garnets were popular in Greece and then later in Rome. Intricate beads made of gold filigree and garnet dating back to the 1^st century A.D. have been found in Sardinia. As early as the 5^th century A.D., garnets from India were being traded as far north as Russia  In the Americas in pre-Columbian times, garnets were used in both Aztec and Native American ornaments.  
 

Deep-red garnets—mostly pyrope and almandine—were very popular in Victorian jewelry when they were known as Bohemian rubies.  This is because up until the late 1800s most pyrope came from Bohemia, Czechoslovakia.