Birthstone Jewelry Guide: Birthstones by Month

Find Your Birthstone by Month

Birthstone jewelry is a simple way to personalize a necklace, bracelet, ring, or pair of earrings. Each month is associated with one or more traditional or modern birthstones, offering different colors, meanings, and design possibilities.

In this guide, we explain the birthstones associated with each month, their common colors and characteristics, and how they can be used in jewelry design.

If you are looking for custom birthstone jewelry, Churinga Jewelry Factory can also develop stainless steel birthstone jewelry for brands, retailers, and wholesalers.

Birthstones by Month

January Birthstone Jewelry – Garnet

Garnet is traditionally associated with January. Its rich red color makes it a popular choice for personalized birthstone jewelry.

Garnet Jewelry Ideas

• Garnet earrings
• Garnet pendants
• Garnet birthstone necklaces
• Garnet bracelets
• Garnet rings

Best Metal for Garnet Jewelry

For everyday fashion jewelry, garnet-colored stones can be paired with stainless steel, gold-tone plating, or silver-tone finishes.

HISTORY AND ORIGIN

Amethyst has been the most sought after quartz variety gemstone for centuries. Since amethyst was as expensive as rubies and emeralds, it was available only to royalty. This changed in the 19th Century when large deposits were discovered in Brazil. Today, because it is plentiful and affordable, amethyst is used in mass-market jewelry and more exceptional stones are found in designer pieces. 

COLOR AND CUT

Amethyst’s purple color can range from a light lilac to a deep, intense royal purple, and from brownish to vivid. The finest color is a strong reddish purple to dark purple as long as the stone is not so dark it reduces the brightness. Amethyst is cut into a variety of standard shapes and cutting styles. Amethyst is also a very popular gem for cutting into a variety of freeform shapes. This is done by hand or by automated cutting. These so-called fantasy or designer cuts can be mass produced or created as one-of-a-kind pieces.

MYTH AND PERSONALITY

Because of its wine-like color, early Greek legends associated amethyst with Bacchus, the god of wine. Other legends included beliefs that amethyst kept its wearer clear-headed and quick-witted in battle and in business affairs. Because amethyst was associated with wine, it was believed that wearing amethyst prevented intoxication(amethystos means “not drunk” in ancient Greek.) The virtues of amethyst include beauty, calm, humility, a loving demeanor, sincerity, and wisdom. 

MARCH: AQUAMARINE

“Those born in March can be described with the same characteristics as the aquamarine and are referred to as brilliant, resilient, and enchanting.”

HISTORY AND ORIGIN

The name “aquamarine” is derived from two Latin words: aqua, meaning “water,” and marina, meaning “of the sea.”  Some people referred to aquamarine as “the sailor’s stone.” 

COLOR AND CUT

Aquamarine’s color range is very narrow, usually contains blue or greenish blue hues. The gem’s most valuable color is a dark blue to slightly greenish blue with moderately strong intensity. In general, the purer and more intense the blue color, the more valuable the stone. The gemstone’s hardness and transparency make it popular with designers, artists, and carvers. 

MYTH AND PERSONALITY

Sailors would take aquamarines on sea journeys and toss them into the ocean as gifts to Poseidon to assure a safe voyage. Legend has it that Poseidon would give the aquamarines to mermaids as gifts. Aquamarine was also believed to make the wearer unconquerable and amiable and quicken the intellect.

APRIL: DIAMOND

If you have an April birthday, you inherit traits just like the diamond. Both are calming, unique, and one-of-a-kind.”

HISTORY AND ORIGIN

Diamonds have a long history as beautiful objects of desire. In the first century AD, the Roman naturalist Pliny stated: “Diamond is the most valuable, not only of precious stones, but of all things in this world.” It is believed that diamonds were first found in the rivers and streams of India. Some historians estimate that India was trading in diamonds as early as the fourth century BC.

COLOR AND CUT

The color of a diamond can range from crystal clear to a light tinted yellow. The cut of a diamond can either help or hurt the value of the gem by accentuating the natural inclusions and shape of the diamond. The cut is specific to the symmetry and polish of the diamond, meaning that a better cut will better illuminate the diamond.

MYTH AND PERSONALITY

In addition to being a symbol of everlasting love, diamonds were once thought to bring courage. In Sanskrit, the diamond is called vajra, which also means lightning; in Hindu mythology, vajra was the weapon of Indra, the king of gods. The virtues of diamond include resilience, wisdom, good fortune, and calm.

“Those born in May can be described by the very same characteristics of the emerald. They are soothing, imaginative, and carry themselves stress-free.”

HISTORY AND ORIGIN

The largest producer of emerald is Columbia in South America. Emeralds from Colombia were part of the plunder when sixteenth-century Spanish explorers invaded the New World. The Incas had already been using emeralds in their jewelry and religious ceremonies for 500 years. The Spanish, who treasured gold and silver far more than gems, traded emeralds for precious metals. Their trades opened the eyes of European and Asian royalty to emerald’s majesty. Its color reflects new spring growth, which makes it the perfect choice of a birthstone for the month of May. 

COLOR AND CUT

The radiance of its color makes the emerald a very unique gemstone. However, emerald almost always has some inclusions. These fissures, small crystal, and even bubbles often mar the evenness of the gemstone’s color. Fine inclusions do not diminish the high regard in which it is held. In fact, even with inclusions, an emerald in a deep, lively green still has a much higher value than an almost flawless emerald which is paler in color. Emerald is always green and the most famous member of the beryl family, which also includes aquamarine, Morganite, and other lesser-known gemstones. The green in emeralds is caused by the presence of chromium or vanadium.

MYTH AND PERSONALITY

It is believed that emerald’s lush green has soothed souls and excited imaginations since antiquity. The name comes from the ancient Greek word for green, “smaragdus.” In Natural History, published in the first century AD, Rome’s Pliny the Elder described emerald as “…nothing greens greener.” He described the use of emerald by early lapidaries, who “have no better method of restoring their eyes than by looking at the emerald, its soft, green color comforting and removing their weariness and lassitude.” Even today, the color green is known to relieve stress and eye strain.

JUNE: ALEXANDRITE

“Those born in June express similar traits like Alexandrite. They are purposeful, strong, and light-hearted.”

HISTORY AND ORIGIN

It is said that, in the 1830s, mineralogist Nils Gustaf Nordenskiold discovered alexandrite in the Ural Mountains of Russia on the sixteenth birthday of Alexander II. He named the stone in honor of the future Czar Alexander II of Russia. While this is a popular story of the discovery of Alexandrite, it is controversial to some and only adds to the mystique of this rare gem.

COLOR AND CUT

An ideal alexandrite is a stone with medium tone and intense colors that change from blue green in daylight to ruby red or purplish-red under incandescent light or candlelight. Some alexandrites are considered less valuable because the colors bleed, meaning that both colors can be seen at the same time. Since the light sources are often mixed anyway, this occurrence is actually very common. Brownish and grayish tones are very common in alexandrites, and their presence makes the stones less attractive and less valuable.

MYTH AND PERSONALITY 

It is also said that the stone reminds us of our purpose in life and our origin. It gives hope to those who are in despair about their lives. It brings strength and constantly reminds them of the light. With its changing color, it is a reminder that life is not only what it seems to be.

JULY: RUBY

“Ruby is a bold gemstone and those born during July carry much of the same qualities. They are passionate, wise, and carry themselves with a full heart.”

HISTORY AND ORIGIN

Historically, ruby is one of the most significant colored stones. There are four mentions of ruby in the Bible, and some of these mentions associate the gemstone with attributes like beauty and wisdom. In the ancient language of Sanskrit, ruby is called ratnaraj, or “king of precious stones.”

The name ruby comes from the Latin word ruber, which means “red.” The glowing red of ruby suggests an inextinguishable flame burns in the stone that could shine through clothing and seems intense enough to be able to boil water.

COLOR AND CUT

Ruby is a variety of the corundum mineral species that also includes sapphire. Ruby is the most valuable variety of corundum and can in fact command the highest per-carat price of ANY colored stone, a power that makes it one of the most important gems in the colored stone market. The mineral corundum is colorless in its purest form, but trace elements of chromium cause the ruby’s red color, which can range from an orangy-red to a purplish red. The amount of chromium present directly affects the strength of the ruby’s red color: the more chromium, deeper the hue of red. The level of intensity can also be increased when the chromium causes fluorescence.

MYTH AND PERSONALITY

Ruby’s intense red color often mirrors some of our most intense emotions, such as love and anger, passion and fury. Early cultures treasured rubies for their similarity to the redness of the blood that flowed through human veins, and some of these humans believed that rubies held the power of life. It has been said that the owner of a fine ruby is assured three things: having a good life, living at peace with all men, and never having his rank or land be taken from him. It was also thought that the wearer of a ruby would be blessed with health, wealth, wisdom, and outstanding affairs of the heart.