Birthstones

A birthstone is a gift of a precious material (jewelry, mainly gemstones themselves traditionally associated with various qualities) that symbolizes the month of birth (in the Gregorian Calendar) of the birthday boy or girl. It is sometimes also called birthday stone (cfr. infra; but that word is, confusingly, sometimes used as a synonym for an anniversary gift, which is related to the recipient's age, i.e. year of birth).

There have been many different sets of birthstones used throughout history and in different cultures, but in 1912 the American national association of jewelers, Jewelers of America, officially adopted the following list; it is currently the most widely used list in the United States and many other places, including Australia (a jeweler's 'modern' list states they are selected for bright colors) and Thailand:

• January: garnet
• February:amethyst
• March: aquamarine or bloodstone
• April: diamond
• May: emerald
• June: pearl (the only non-gem) or moonstone or Chrysoberyl or alexandrite
• July: ruby
• August: peridot or sardonyx and sapphire
• September: sapphire
• October: opal or tourmaline
• November: topaz (appararantly not in blue, cr. infra)
• December: turquoise or lapis (the blue stone in pharaonic jewelry) or zircon (common artificial substitute for diamond) or blue topaz

This is an astrologic version of the birthstones, using zodiac signs in stead of months of birth, and one completely different stone (the only link) :

• Aquarius (January 21 To February 21) Garnet
• Pisces (February 21 To March 21) Amethyst and moonstone
• Aries (March 21 To April 20) Diamond
• Taurus (April 20 To May 21) Sapphire
• Gemini (May 21 To June 21) or Spinel>
• Cancer (June 21 To July 22) Emerald
• Leo (July 22 To August 22) Opal
• Virgo (August 22 To September 22) Opal
• Libra (September 22 To October 23) Peridot
• Scorpio (October 23 To November 21) Aquamarine
• Sagittarius (November 21 To December 21) Topaz
• Capricorn (December 21 To January 21) Ruby