Gem Quiz

This Garnet Was Named After a Flower — And It Shows

Raspberry-pink, usually flawless, and a designer favorite.

Published

42 seconds ago

January 28, 2026

INSTORE Staff

This Garnet Was Named After a Flower — And It Shows

CLUE: I arrived fashionably late. Garnets have decorated jewelry for thousands of years, but I wasn’t formally named until 1898, when mineralogists in the North Carolina mountains thought my color matched the pink blooms growing all around them. Those original deposits are mostly exhausted now, but Tanzania and Sri Lanka keep me well-supplied — and my reputation for being inclusion-free makes me a go-to for designers who want big, clean color. If regular garnets are red wine, I’m the rosé.

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Honoring a Legacy: How Smith & Son Jewelers Exceeded Every Goal With Wilkerson

When Andrew Smith decided to close the Springfield, Massachusetts location of Smith & Son Jewelers, the decision came down to family. His father was retiring after 72 years in the business, and Andrew wanted to spend more time with his children and soon-to-arrive grandchildren. For this fourth-generation jeweler whose great-grandfather founded the company in 1918, closing the 107-year-old Springfield location required the right partner. Smith chose Wilkerson, and the experience exceeded expectations from start to finish. "Everything they told me was 100% true," Smith says. "The ease and use of all their tools was wonderful." The consultants' knowledge and expertise proved invaluable. Smith and his father set their own financial goal, but Wilkerson proposed three more ambitious targets. "We thought we would never make it," Smith explains. "We were dead wrong. We hit our first goal, second goal and third goal. It was amazing." Smith's recommendation is emphatic: "I would never be able to do what they did by myself."