Birthstone Chart: Birthstones by Month

Birthstone chart by month

The birthstone chart by month below follows the modern US list published by American jewelers and gem labs. Months with more than one stone let you pick by color, budget or taste.

January	Garnet (deep red)
February	Amethyst (purple)
March	Aquamarine (pale blue), bloodstone (green with red spots)
April	Diamond (colorless)
May	Emerald (green)
June	Pearl (white), moonstone (milky with a blue sheen), alexandrite (green to red)
July	Ruby (red)
August	Peridot (lime green), spinel (many colors), sardonyx (red and white bands)
September	Sapphire (blue)
October	Opal (play of color), tourmaline (pink and many other colors)
November	Topaz and citrine (golden yellow to orange)
December	Turquoise, tanzanite, zircon and blue topaz (sky blue to violet blue)

Raw birthstone crystals

Raw birthstone crystals are the version jewelers skip: the stone as it grew, with its own faces, color and matrix. Many birthstones are affordable this way. A garnet dodecahedron, an amethyst cluster, an aquamarine prism or a rough ruby in its matrix usually costs far less than the same mineral cut and set in gold.

A good raw birthstone gift is labeled with its mineral and locality, and any treatment is named: most blue topaz is irradiated, most blue zircon and tanzanite are heated, and most citrine is heated amethyst. Start with January's garnet, November's citrine and topaz or December's blue stones.

Birthstone colors and meanings

Birthstone colors and meanings come from history and trade more than from science. The idea is often traced to the twelve stones on the high priest's breastplate in the Book of Exodus, and US jewelers fixed the month-by-month list in 1912, and the gem trade has updated it since, adding tanzanite in 2002 and spinel in 2016. Meanings like garnet for protection or citrine for prosperity are lore, not chemistry. Wikipedia's birthstone article traces the history.