Birthstone Jewelry

The modern list runs: January garnet, February amethyst, March aquamarine, April diamond, May emerald, June pearl, moonstone and alexandrite, July ruby, August peridot and spinel, September sapphire, October opal and tourmaline, November topaz and citrine, and December turquoise, zircon and tanzanite.

Several months offer more than one stone, which gives real choice on colour, hardness and price rather than creating confusion.

This is the modern American list, standardised in 1912 and revised since. Older traditional lists differ, which is why a stone in an antique reference may not match a modern chart.

Because there is more than one tradition. Associations between stones and months go back centuries and appear in several cultures independently, so historical lists disagree with one another.

What most people mean today is the modern list adopted by the American jewellery trade in 1912 and amended a handful of times since - tanzanite was added to December in 2002 and spinel to August in 2016.

None of the lists is authoritative in an absolute sense. If a family follows a particular tradition, that tradition is as valid as the commercial standard.

June has pearl, moonstone and alexandrite. October has opal and tourmaline. November has topaz and citrine. December has turquoise, zircon and tanzanite. August has peridot alongside spinel.

The alternatives usually exist for practical reasons - a rarer or more expensive stone paired with a more available one, or a softer stone paired with a harder one.

That makes the choice a real one. A June birthday can be answered with a colour-changing alexandrite or with the soft glow of a moonstone, and both are correct.

It is one of the safest gifts in jewellery for exactly that reason. Pendants, necklaces, earrings and most bracelets do not need a size at all.

An eighteen-inch necklace is close to a universal length for adults, and stud or huggie earrings suit almost anyone.

Rings are the one category where size genuinely matters. If a ring is what you want to give, it is worth borrowing an existing ring to measure or asking someone close to them.

Yes - that is what mother's rings and family pendants are for. They set one stone for each child or family member, in a row or a cluster, so the piece records a family rather than just decorating a finger.

These are made to order with the specific months chosen, so the arrangement is built around your family rather than adapted to it.

One practical point: a multi-stone piece is only as hard-wearing as its softest stone, which matters if it is intended for constant wear. It is also worth asking whether a given design allows a stone to be added later.

Then buy them something else. The list is a convention, not an obligation, and a stone someone actively dislikes makes a poor gift however traditional it is.

Months with alternatives make this easy - June, October, November and December all offer a choice, so a different stone can still be the right one for the month.

Other approaches work too: the stone of a partner or a child, a colour they actually wear, or simply a stone they have admired. Meaning matters more than correctness here.

Yes. The range covers 14K gold in yellow, white and rose, along with platinum across a good part of the assortment.

Metal colour changes how a stone reads more than people expect. A warm metal adds warmth to a stone; a cool one lets the stone's own colour dominate. The same garnet looks quite different in yellow gold and in white.

The most practical guide is what the recipient already wears, since a piece that matches their existing jewellery gets worn far more often than one that does not.

Diamond, sapphire and ruby sit at the top of the hardness scale and will take daily ring wear indefinitely. Topaz, spinel and aquamarine are also robust.

Amethyst, citrine, garnet and peridot are workable in a ring but do better in a setting that protects their edges.

Pearl, opal, moonstone, turquoise and tanzanite are the ones to think about carefully in a ring worn every day. As a pendant or earrings they are entirely practical - a neckline simply takes far less impact than a hand.

A ring set with one stone for each child, usually arranged in a row across the finger or clustered together, so that the family is represented in the piece itself.

They are made to order with the specific birthstones chosen, and the same idea appears as pendants and bracelets for anyone who does not wear rings.

Two things are worth deciding at the outset: whether the design allows a stone to be added later, and whether the softest stone among the months chosen suits how often the piece will be worn.

Warm water, a little mild soap and a soft brush suits the great majority of these stones, followed by a thorough rinse and a soft cloth.

Avoid ultrasonic and steam cleaners. They are a genuine risk to treated stones, to porous material such as opal and turquoise, and to pearl.

Because the birthstone list spans such a wide range of hardness, store pieces so that nothing harder rests against anything softer - a sapphire will scratch an opal in a drawer as readily as anywhere else.