A birthstone is a gemstone that represents a person's birth period, usually the month or zodiac sign. Birthstones are often worn as jewelry or a pendant necklace.
A birthstone is a gemstone that represents a person's birth period, usually the month or zodiac sign. Birthstones are often worn as jewelry or a pendant necklace.
The first-century historian Josephus believed there was a connection between the twelve stones in Aaron's breastplate (signifying the tribes of Israel, as described in the Book of Exodus), the twelve months of the year, and the twelve signs of the zodiac. [1] : 275–306 Translations and interpretations of the passage in Exodus regarding the breastplate have varied widely, with Josephus himself giving two different lists for the twelve stones. [2] : 130–131 George Frederick Kunz argues that Josephus saw the breastplate of the Second Temple, not the one described in Exodus. St. Jerome, referencing Josephus, said the Foundation Stones of the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:19–20) would be appropriate for Christians. [3] : 294
In the eighth and ninth centuries, religious treatises associating a particular stone with an apostle were written so that "their name would be inscribed on the Foundation Stones, and his virtue." [3] : 299 Practice became to keep twelve stones and wear one a month. [3] : 298 The custom of wearing a single birthstone is only a few centuries old, though modern authorities differ on dates. Kunz places the custom in eighteenth-century Poland, while the Gemological Institute of America starts it in Germany in the 1560s. [3] : 293
Modern lists of birthstones have little to do with either the breastplate or the Foundation Stones of Christianity. Tastes, customs, and confusing translations have distanced them from their historical origins, [3] : 310 with one author calling the 1912 Kansas list (see below) "nothing but a piece of unfounded salesmanship." [2] : 132
Some poems match each month of the Gregorian calendar with a birthstone. These are traditional stones of English-speaking societies. Tiffany & Co. published these poems "of unknown author" for the first time in a pamphlet in 1870. [4]
In 1912, to standardize birthstones, the (American) National Association of Jewelers (now called Jewelers of America) met in Kansas and officially adopted a list. [1] : 317 The Jewelry Industry Council of America updated the list in 1952 [3] : 311 by adding Alexandrite for June, citrine for November and pink tourmaline for October. They also replaced December's lapis with zircon and switched the primary/alternative gems for March. The American Gem Trade Association added tanzanite as a December birthstone in 2002. [5] In 2016, the American Gem Trade Association and Jewelers of America added spinel as an additional birthstone for August. [6] Britain's National Association of Goldsmiths created its own standardized list of birthstones in 1937. [7] In 2021, Japanese industry associations added ten new types of birthstones. [8]
Eastern culture recognizes a similar range of gemstones associated with birth, though rather than associating a gem with a birth month, gemstones are associated with celestial bodies. Astrology determines the gemstones most closely associated with and beneficial to a particular individual. For example, in Hinduism, there are nine gemstones related to the Navagraha (celestial forces including the planets, the Sun, and the Moon), known in Sanskrit as Navaratna (nine gems). At birth, an astrological chart is calculated. Specific stones are recommended to be worn on the body to supposedly ward off potential problems based on the place of these forces in the sky at the exact place and time of birth. [9]
| Month | 15th–20th century [1] : 315 | U.S. (1912) [1] : 319–320 | UK (2013) [10] | U.S. (2019) [11] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | Garnet | Garnet | Garnet | Garnet |
| February | Amethyst, hyacinth, pearl | Amethyst | Amethyst | Amethyst |
| March | Bloodstone, jasper | Bloodstone, aquamarine | Aquamarine, bloodstone | Aquamarine, bloodstone |
| April | Diamond, sapphire | Diamond | Diamond, rock crystal | Diamond |
| May | Emerald, agate | Emerald | Emerald, chrysoprase | Emerald |
| June | Cat's eye, turquoise, agate | Pearl, moonstone | Pearl, moonstone | Pearl, moonstone, alexandrite |
| July | Turquoise, onyx | Ruby | Ruby, carnelian | Ruby |
| August | Sardonyx, carnelian, moonstone, topaz | Sardonyx, peridot | Peridot, sardonyx | Peridot, spinel, sardonyx |
| September | Chrysolite | Sapphire | Sapphire, lapis lazuli | Sapphire |
| October | Opal, aquamarine | Opal, tourmaline | Opal | Opal, tourmaline |
| November | Topaz, pearl | Topaz | Topaz, citrine | Topaz, citrine |
| December | Bloodstone, ruby | Turquoise, lapis lazuli | Tanzanite, turquoise | Turquoise, zircon, tanzanite |
| Sign | Dates [3] : 318 | Stone [1] : 345–347 |
|---|---|---|
| Aries | 21 March – 19 April | Bloodstone |
| Taurus | 20 April – 20 May | Sapphire |
| Gemini | 21 May – 20 June | Agate |
| Cancer | 21 June – 22 July | Emerald |
| Leo | 23 July – 22 August | Onyx |
| Virgo | 23 August – 22 September | Carnelian |
| Libra | 23 September – 22 October | Chrysolite |
| Scorpio | 23 October – 21 November | Beryl |
| Sagittarius | 22 November – 21 December | Topaz |
| Capricorn | 22 December – 19 January | Ruby |
| Aquarius | 20 January – 18 February | Garnet |
| Pisces | 19 February – 20 March | Amethyst |
While the term "birthday stone" is sometimes used as a synonym for a birthstone, each day of the week is also assigned a unique gemstone, and these assignments are distinct from the monthly assignments. [1]
| Day of the Week | Stone(s) |
|---|---|
| Sunday | Topaz, diamond |
| Monday | Pearl, crystal |
| Tuesday | Ruby, emerald |
| Wednesday | Amethyst, lodestone |
| Thursday | Sapphire, carnelian |
| Friday | Emerald, cat's eye |
| Saturday | Turquoise, diamond |
Amethyst is a violet variety of quartz. The name comes from the Koine Greek αμέθυστοςamethystos from α-a-, "not" and μεθύσκωmethysko / μεθώmetho, "intoxicate", a reference to the belief that the stone protected its owner from drunkenness. Ancient Greeks wore amethyst and carved drinking vessels from it in the belief that it would prevent intoxication.
A gemstone is a piece of mineral crystal which, when cut or polished, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. Certain rocks and occasionally organic materials that are not minerals may also be used for jewelry and are therefore often considered to be gemstones as well. Most gemstones are hard, but some softer minerals such as brazilianite may be used in jewelry because of their color or luster or other physical properties that have aesthetic value. However, generally speaking, soft minerals are not typically used as gemstones by virtue of their brittleness and lack of durability.
Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide (α-Al2O3) with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, cobalt, lead, chromium, vanadium, magnesium, boron, and silicon. The name sapphire is derived from the Latin word sapphirus, itself from the Greek word sappheiros (σάπφειρος), which referred to lapis lazuli. It is typically blue, but natural "fancy" sapphires also occur in yellow, purple, orange, and green colors; "parti sapphires" show two or more colors. Red corundum stones also occur, but are called rubies rather than sapphires. Pink-colored corundum may be classified either as ruby or sapphire depending on the locale. Commonly, natural sapphires are cut and polished into gemstones and worn in jewelry. They also may be created synthetically in laboratories for industrial or decorative purposes in large crystal boules. Because of the remarkable hardness of sapphires – 9 on the Mohs scale (the third-hardest mineral, after diamond at 10 and moissanite at 9.5) – sapphires are also used in some non-ornamental applications, such as infrared optical components, high-durability windows, wristwatch crystals and movement bearings, and very thin electronic wafers, which are used as the insulating substrates of special-purpose solid-state electronics such as integrated circuits and GaN-based blue LEDs. Sapphire is the birthstone for September and the gem of the 45th anniversary. A sapphire jubilee occurs after 65 years.
Topaz is a silicate mineral made of aluminum and fluorine with the chemical formula Al2SiO4(F, OH)2. It is used as a gemstone in jewelry and other adornments. Common topaz in its natural state is colorless, though trace element impurities can make it pale blue or golden brown to yellow-orange. Topaz is often treated with heat or radiation to make it a deep blue, reddish-orange, pale green, pink, or purple.
Garnets are a group of silicate minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives.
Ruby is a pinkish red to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum. Ruby is one of the most popular traditional jewelry gems and is very durable. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sapphires. Ruby is one of the traditional cardinal gems, alongside amethyst, sapphire, emerald, and diamond. The word ruby comes from ruber, Latin for red. The color of a ruby is due to the element chromium.
Peridot, sometimes called chrysolite, is a yellow-green transparent variety of olivine. Peridot is one of the few gemstones that occur in only one color.
The mineral or gemstone chrysoberyl is an aluminate of beryllium with the formula BeAl2O4. The name chrysoberyl is derived from the Greek words χρυσός chrysos and βήρυλλος beryllos, meaning "a gold-white spar". Despite the similarity of their names, chrysoberyl and beryl are two completely different gemstones, although they both contain beryllium. Chrysoberyl is the third-hardest frequently encountered natural gemstone and lies at 8.5 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, between corundum (9) and topaz (8).
Lustre or luster is the way light interacts with the surface of a crystal, rock, or mineral. The word traces its origins back to the Latin lux, meaning "light", and generally implies radiance, gloss, or brilliance.
Gemology or gemmology is the science dealing with natural and artificial gemstone materials. It is a specific interdisciplinary branch of mineralogy. Some jewelers are academically trained gemologists and are qualified to identify and evaluate gems.
Pleochroism is an optical phenomenon in which a substance has different colors when observed at different angles, especially with polarized light.
Tanzanite is the blue and violet variety of the mineral zoisite, caused by small amounts of vanadium. Tanzanite belongs to the epidote mineral group. Tanzanite is only found in Simanjiro District of Manyara Region in Tanzania, in a very small mining area approximately 7 km (4.3 mi) long and 2 km (1.2 mi) wide near the Mererani Hills.
The Black Prince's Ruby is a large, irregular cabochon red spinel weighing 170 carats (34 g) set in the cross pattée above the Cullinan II diamond at the front of the Imperial State Crown of the United Kingdom. The spinel is one of the oldest parts of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom, with a history dating back to the middle of the 14th century. It has been in the possession of England's rulers since it was given in 1367 to its namesake, Edward of Woodstock. The stone is believed to have originated from the Badakhshan mines in present day Afghanistan and Tajikistan, the principal source of large spinel gems in the Middle Ages.
The priestly breastplate or breastpiece of judgment was a sacred breastplate worn by the High Priest of the Israelites, according to the Book of Exodus. In the biblical account, the breastplate is termed the breastplate of judgment, because the Urim and Thummim were placed upon it. These elements of the breastplate are said in the Exodus verse to carry the judgment of God concerning the Israelites at all times.
The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) is a nonprofit institute based in Carlsbad, California. It is dedicated to research and education in the field of gemology and the jewelry arts. Founded in 1931, GIA's mission is to protect buyers and sellers of gemstones by setting and maintaining the standards used to evaluate gemstone quality. The institute does so through research, gem identification, diamond grading services, and a variety of educational programs. Through its library and subject experts, GIA acts as a resource of gem and jewelry information for the trade, the public and media outlets.
Jargoon or jargon is a name applied by gemologists to those zircons which are fine enough to be cut as gemstones, but are not of the red color which characterizes the hyacinth or jacinth. The word is related to Persian zargun.
In gemmology, a Chelsea filter is a dichromatic optical filter used for identifying coloured stones.
International Gemological Institute (IGI) is a Belgian diamond, colored stone and jewelry certification organization. Established in 1975, it is the largest independent gemological laboratory worldwide.
Taaffeite (; BeMgAl4O8) is a mineral, named after its discoverer Richard Taaffe (1898–1967) who found the first sample, a cut and polished gem, in October 1945 in a jeweler's shop in Dublin, Ireland. As such, it is the only gemstone to have been initially identified from a faceted stone. Most pieces of the gem, prior to Taaffe, had been misidentified as spinel. For many years afterwards, it was known only in a few samples, and it is still one of the rarest gemstone minerals in the world.