December's birthstones are turquoise, blue topaz, tanzanite and zircon: four stones, and every single one of them is blue. I take that as the universe having a very clear colour palette and no patience for debate.
December is the month you're buying for nine people, the cookie tins are multiplying, and someone you love has a birthday on the 19th that keeps getting folded into Christmas. These stones carry the themes the month is built for: protection, transformation, clarity, and saying what you mean before the calendar flips.
June and August each get three. December gets four, because nobody could agree on just one blue.
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Jump To: December's Stones | Colour | Cost | Turquoise | Blue Topaz | Tanzanite | Zircon | Capri Blue | The Pieces | Gifts | How to Wear It | The Flowers | December's Sky | FAQ
What Is the Birthstone for December?
Four stones, depending on the list you're reading, and all of them count:
- Turquoise, the ancient protector and the traditional December stone.
- Blue topaz, the popular modern alternative. Topaz is officially November's in every colour, but its winter blue made it December's favourite.
- Tanzanite, the violet-blue newcomer, found in exactly one place on earth.
- Zircon, the sparkler that gets mistaken for something synthetic and isn't.
The twelve-month birthstone breakdown covers every month and why the lists don't always agree.
Where I'd start: if you're shopping rather than studying, blue topaz is the December stone I carry the most of, and it's the easiest to wear every day. Genuine turquoise arrives here in small batches, so if the shelf is thin, my Capri blue pieces carry the same deep-water blue for less. Everything lives on one shelf: December birthstone jewelry.
What Colour Is the December Birthstone?
Blue, four ways. Turquoise is sky blue to sea green, often veined with a darker matrix. Blue topaz runs from pale sky to the electric Swiss blue to inky London blue. Tanzanite is violet-blue and shifts between the two as you turn it. Blue zircon is bright and fiery, a cool winter-water shade. If she loves blue, December is the easiest month on the calendar.
Why One Blue Costs More Than Another
Two blue stones can look nearly identical in a photo and sit a few hundred dollars apart. That gap is almost never real versus fake. It's grade, treatment and supply.
- Grade. Colour, clarity and cut drive price far more than authenticity does. A genuine stone in a lighter or more included grade is still a genuine stone.
- Treatment. Most turquoise on the market is stabilized with resin so it survives real life, and almost all blue topaz gets its colour from treatment. Neither makes the stone fake. It just has to be said on the label.
- Supply. Tanzanite comes from one small area near Mount Kilimanjaro. One source, one price tag.
- Lab-grown. Same crystal, grown above ground, usually clearer and kinder on the budget. The lab-created gemstones guide has the full story.
If a listing won't tell you which one you're looking at, that's your answer. Every listing here says it.
Turquoise: The Protector Stone
Turquoise is the protection stone: a shield against negativity, a steadier for emotions, and a throat chakra stone for truth-telling and self-expression. Its whole job is looking after the person wearing it, which is why it suits the woman who looks after everyone else.
Shopping for turquoise: what to look for. Not all "turquoise" is the same. When you're choosing a piece, you'll often see a few different types:
- Natural turquoise: real turquoise that has been cut and polished but not treated beyond basic stabilization. It will usually show natural matrix (veining) and slight variations in colour. This is the most collectible and usually the most expensive.
- Stabilized turquoise: genuine turquoise that's been infused with clear resin to make it stronger and less porous. This helps it resist oils, lotions and everyday wear. Stabilized turquoise is very common in jewellery and a great, durable option for pieces you want to wear often.
- Reconstituted ("recons") turquoise: made from small chips or turquoise dust that are ground up, mixed with resin, then shaped into beads or cabochons. It's still using turquoise material, but it's more like a turquoise composite than a solid natural stone.
- Turquoise-coloured or imitation stones: these are not turquoise at all, but look-alikes such as dyed howlite, magnesite or glass. They can be beautiful and affordable, but they should be clearly labelled as imitation or "turquoise colour" rather than sold as real turquoise.
When you buy, check the description: look for words like "natural" or "stabilized turquoise" if you want genuine stone, and be cautious if it only says "turquoise colour" with no further detail. I hold myself to the same rule. Every listing here says which one it is.
Two turquoise pieces worth knowing. The Blue Sun & Star sets genuine stabilized turquoise into a hammered sun. The pendant or the ring on its own is $45, or take the pair for $77. It's stainless steel, so it can live on you through showers and winter without fuss. The Beaded Chakra Choker ($45) comes in a turquoise variant and sits right at the throat, which is exactly where this stone wants to live.
Journal prompt: "What truths do I need to express to feel safe and aligned?" The rest of the protection shelf is in protection jewelry.
Blue Topaz: The One I Carry the Most Of
Blue topaz is the popular modern addition. Officially, topaz is November's stone in every colour, but its winter blue has made it December's favourite alternative, and it's the topaz most people picture when they hear the word. So a blue topaz birthday can belong to either month.
It's the clear-communication stone: water-element calm, steady rather than sleepy, tied to the throat and third eye. It helps you say the thing you've been circling.
The Blue Topaz Hoop Necklace ($75) and matching Hoop Earrings ($75) are wire-wrapped and wear as a set or apart: the pairing in the photo above. The Double Teardrop Necklace and Earrings ($65 each) are the quieter version, made for layering.
Want the stone doing something more specific? The Blue Topaz Third Eye Necklace ($65) sets it into a third eye symbol, which is a lot of intention for sixty-five dollars. And if you're buying for someone who's earned a real gift this year, the Peacock Feather Necklace ($120) sets Swiss blue topaz in gold-plated sterling silver.
Journal prompt: "What have I been meaning to say, and what would it cost me to finally say it?"
Tanzanite: The Stone of Transformation
Tanzanite is the transformation stone, tied to the third eye and crown: intuition, inner vision, and the nerve to let an old chapter close. Its magic is the shift between violet and blue as you turn it.
It's a rare, single-location gemstone, found almost exclusively in a small area near Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, which is why it's so prized, and why it's priced well outside my shelf. Most natural tanzanite is heat-treated to bring out that vivid blue-violet. You'll also see lab-created stones designed to mimic its colour. I'd rather tell you all that than sell you something violet and call it tanzanite.
Wanting tanzanite's energy? The Amethyst & Blue Topaz Ring ($95, gold-plated sterling, size 7) puts violet and blue side by side on one hand. For the third-eye side of the story, the Blue Topaz Third Eye Earrings ($65) do the intuition work in December's other blue. Letting go is its own shelf: transformation & release jewelry.
Journal prompt: "What am I ready to let go of so I can step into my highest self?"
Zircon: The Stone of Wisdom and Grounding
Zircon is the wisdom stone: clear thinking, grounding through seasonal and emotional shifts, and a reputation for amplifying the stones around it.
It's a natural mineral gemstone (zirconium silicate), not to be confused with cubic zirconia, which is a lab-made diamond imitation. Zircon has a high refractive index and strong fire, so it sparkles beautifully, sometimes almost like a diamond. It also has double refraction (facets can look doubled under magnification) and feels heavier than glass or quartz because of its density. If you want something bright and brilliant that still carries the grounded energy of a natural gem, zircon is a beautiful choice.
The Third Eye Zircon Studs ($35) set a bright zircon in the centre of the eye: small enough for a work day, and the easiest December gift on this page for someone who doesn't wear much jewellery.
Journal prompt: "How can I ground myself in wisdom while still embracing new beginnings?"
The Capri Blue Alternative
Here's the honest version: genuine turquoise and tanzanite don't always make it onto my shelf, and I'm not going to fill the gap with mystery blue. What I have instead is Capri blue, the deep Mediterranean water colour I carried home from two Greek summers. These pieces are faceted glass and lab-grown hydro quartz, inspired by blue topaz and labelled for exactly what they are. The story behind the colour is in the Greek island that named a colour.
December Pieces, Sorted by What They Are
Genuine blue topaz:
- Double Teardrop Necklace and Earrings — $65 each.
- Third Eye Necklace and Earrings — $65 each.
- Hoop Necklace and Hoop Earrings — $75 each.
- Orchid Drop Earrings and Drop & Orchid Studs — $85 each. One of a kind.
- Amethyst & Blue Topaz Ring — $95. Size 7.
- Peacock Feather Necklace — $120. Swiss blue topaz, gold-plated sterling.
- Blue Chalcedony & Swiss Blue Topaz Drop Earrings — $125. Limited.
Turquoise:
- Turquoise Accent Spinning Meditation Ring — $35.
- The Blue Sun & Star — $45 each, $77 the pair. Stabilized turquoise, stainless steel.
Zircon:
- Third Eye Zircon Studs — $35.
Capri blue, not a December stone. Hydro quartz is lab-grown quartz; the rest is glass:
- Capri Mini Pebble Earrings — $25.
- Capri Cleo Ocean Drop Earrings — $35.
- Capri Exquisite Teardrop Earrings and Necklace — $45 each. My Glass & Light line, designed and assembled by me in Calgary.
- Capri Blue Spike Earrings and Spike Necklace — $65 each. Hydro quartz, with the most blue-topaz flash of the lot.
Shop December → · Take the Quiz →
December Birthday Gifts: The Cheat Sheet
A December birthday spends its whole life sharing a week with the holidays. Here's how to give it something that's only hers.
- For the one who protects everyone else: turquoise. The Turquoise Spinning Meditation Ring ($35) gives her something to fidget with in the long family dinner.
- For the one who needs to say the thing: blue topaz. The Blue Topaz Hoop Necklace ($75) sits right at the throat.
- For the one who "doesn't really wear jewellery": the Third Eye Zircon Studs ($35). Small enough that she'll forget they're there, then wear them every day anyway.
- For the one who's earned a real gift this year: the Peacock Feather Necklace ($120), Swiss blue topaz in gold-plated sterling.
- For the one who loves the colour more than the mineral: Capri blue, glass and hydro quartz, labelled for exactly what they are.
Write one line on the card about why you picked hers. That's the part she keeps.
How to Wear December Blue
Then: December jewellery meant something sparkly for the office party, worn once, back in the box by Boxing Day. Now: blue topaz with a grey sweater on a Tuesday, because December is long and you deserve a little sky.
- Turquoise + silver: the classic, and the coolest blue in the month.
- Blue topaz + gold: warmer than you'd expect. Gold makes the blue glow.
- Turquoise + blue topaz: two December blues, one opaque, one clear. They don't compete; they talk.
- Capri + white: a white shirt and Capri blue earrings, and it's suddenly July in your head.
Turquoise especially is porous and soft: keep it away from water, lotion and perfume, and store it dry and cushioned, apart from harder stones like quartz and topaz (here's how to store turquoise). Blue topaz is far tougher and handles daily wear without complaint. For cleansing and storing genuine stones, the crystal cleansing guide has the safe methods for each; for plated metal and the Capri glass pieces, here's how to clean plated and glass jewelry.
Narcissus and Holly, While We're Here
December's birth flowers are the narcissus and holly. The narcissus stands for hope, rebirth and good fortune: resilience and optimism even in winter.
Doesn't the narcissus look a lot like a daffodil? That's because they're part of the same botanical family. "Narcissus" is the Latin genus name, and "daffodil" is the everyday name most of us use for many of those flowers. Think of narcissus as the umbrella term and daffodils as one of the best-known varieties: same cheerful trumpet shape, same new-beginnings energy, just different outfits and names on the guest list.
Holly is the other one: the glossy evergreen with red berries, a symbol of protection and good cheer that stays green when everything else has gone bare. Turquoise would approve.
December's Sky, Briefly
December birthdays split between two signs. Sagittarius runs to around the 21st: the optimist, the traveller, the one who makes the plan. Capricorn takes over around the 22nd: steady, ambitious, quietly running things. Turquoise suits the Sagittarius who wanders; blue topaz suits the Capricorn who needs to say the hard thing at the year-end meeting.
The winter solstice lands around the 21st, the longest night of the year and the turn back toward the light. December's full moon is the Cold Moon, the year's last full moon and a natural point for release.
Quick year-end ritual: write down what you're releasing, place a turquoise or zircon piece over the paper, burn it safely, then journal three intentions for renewal. For every full and new moon of the year, start with my moon ritual guides.
December Birthstone FAQ
What is the birthstone for December?
December has four: turquoise, blue topaz, tanzanite and zircon. Every one of them is blue, and depending on the list you're reading, any of them counts. December's birth flowers are narcissus and holly.
Is blue topaz a December or November birthstone?
Both. Officially, topaz is November's stone in every colour, but blue topaz is the popular modern alternative for December. A blue topaz birthday can belong to either month.
Is zircon the same as cubic zirconia?
No. Zircon is a natural mineral gemstone. Cubic zirconia is a lab-made diamond imitation. The names are close; the stones aren't.
Is stabilized turquoise real turquoise?
Yes. Stabilized turquoise is genuine turquoise infused with resin so it stands up to everyday wear. Reconstituted turquoise and dyed howlite are different things, and a good listing says which one you're getting.
Can I wear turquoise in the shower?
Better not. Turquoise is porous, so water, lotion and perfume dull it over time. Blue topaz is much tougher and handles daily wear without complaint.
What's a good December birthstone gift under $50?
The Third Eye Zircon Studs or the Turquoise Spinning Meditation Ring, both $35, or a Capri blue Exquisite piece at $45 if she loves the colour more than the mineral.
Find Her Stone in About a Minute
Four stones and not sure which is hers? The free 60-second gemstone quiz matches you to the stone for the chapter you're in. Then browse the December pieces and pick the one that already looks like her.
"I am protected, wise and aligned with transformation. My path is guided, my energy is grounded, and my spirit shines with clarity."
Andrea 🌙
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More Birthstones: ← November (Citrine & Topaz) | All Twelve Birthstones | January (Garnet) →
Mystic Soul Jewelry — Canadian small business, Calgary, Alberta, since 2008. Honestly labelled, always.
