Bohemian garnet jewellery originates from the Central Bohemian Highlands (now part of Czechoslovakia). Mining of garnets began in the 16th century with sponsorship from Rudolf II, the Holy Roman Emperor, Archduke of Austria and the King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia. The garnet mined is the pyrope, a blood red colour.

Originally centred in Prague, the processing of the garnet jewellery moved to the town of Turnov. In the 19th century, craftsmen began to produce jewellery using pavé-set clusters of multi-faceted stones. Initially, garnets were gathered from the surface, but deeper mining became necessary as demand increased.

Victorian Bohemian garnet bangle

A typical design used rose cut garnets clustered around a central garnet cabochon in star shaped patterns or flowerheads. A range of pieces were produced, from drop earrings, brooches, pendants and necklaces. Some of the pieces were very elaborate. Earlier settings were usually closed at the back and could be foiled.

Edwardian silver gilt Bohemian garnet necklace

New rivet technology was later introduced, in which the garnets were clamped into a metal grid using small rivets, thus enabling the binding of small stones into a compact face. The jewellery was mounted either in gold, often low grade, but also in silver gilt or metal.

It was a big enterprise for the region. In 1896, M Bauer estimated that there were:

‘3,000 men engaged in garnet-cutting, some hundreds of garnet-drillers, about 500 goldsmiths and silversmiths, and some 3,500 working jewellers. The collecting of garnets employs some 350 or 400 persons, so that, including the many persons whose work is indirectly connected with the industry, there must be between 9,000 and 10,000 persons gaining their livelihood by labour connected with the working of this precious stone ( Schliiter and Weitschat, 1991, 168)’.

Unusual Victorian silver turtle brooch set with Bohemian garnets

The introduction of larger scale manufacturing of garnet jewellery created mass-produced machine pressed metal settings and garnets of inferior quality. Production began to slow in the 20th century and an economic depression in the 1920s affected the industry. The two world wars led to instability in the region and the industry never recovered. Small amounts of Bohemian garnet jewellery are still being produced today.

Edwardian Bohemian garnet ring

References:

https://www.gia.edu/red-pyrope-garnets-bohemia-reading-list

M. Duraj, M. Marschalko, R. Duda, D. Sitányiová, and S. Masarovičová, ‘The History of Pyrope Extraction and Processing in the Czech Republic and Its Significance for Geotourism’, Procedia Earth and Planetary Science, Vol. 15, pp. 663-668, (2015)

J Schliiter and W Weitschat, ‘Bohemian Garnet – Today’, 1991 Gems & Gemology