Collection: Birthstone Jewelry

How birthstones actually work

Birthstone jewelry is the easiest meaningful gift there is, because the decision is already made for you. You know her month. That is the entire brief. No guessing at a favourite colour, no wondering whether she likes owls.

The list most of us grew up with is the 1912 American standard, tidied up in 1952 and again in 2002, which is why a few months have two or three stones and why your grandmother's list may not match your phone's. June has pearl, moonstone and alexandrite. December has turquoise, zircon and tanzanite. March has aquamarine and bloodstone. None of these are wrong — they are different points on the same timeline, and you get to pick the one that suits the person.

Month by month, in short

January — garnet. Deep red, grounding, the stone for someone who keeps going. February — amethyst. Purple quartz, the calm-down stone, and our most-worn month by a wide margin. March — aquamarine or bloodstone. Pale sea blue, or dark green flecked red. April — diamond or clear quartz. Clear quartz is the wearable version and does the same job for a fraction of the number.

May — emerald. Green, renewal, spring. June — pearl or moonstone. Moonstone is the one people fall for: a blue flash that moves across the surface as she turns. July — ruby. Red, warm, unapologetic. August — peridot. Yellow-green, bright, underrated.

September — sapphire or lapis. Lapis brings the gold pyrite fleck. October — opal or tourmaline. November — citrine or topaz. Warm yellow, the abundance stone. December — turquoise, zircon or tanzanite.

Genuine, look-alike, and why we say which

Some birthstones are expensive in a way that does not survive contact with a real budget. A genuine emerald pendant is not a fifty dollar object. So the honest options are a smaller genuine stone, or a look-alike in the right colour — and the only thing that matters is that somebody tells you which one you are buying.

Every listing here says so. Genuine stone is called genuine. Lab-created, hydro quartz, glass and dyed material are each named as what they are. A dyed green agate for May is a perfectly good gift; it is only a bad gift if someone let you believe it was emerald.

Multi-colour listings are deliberately left out of the month collections, because a piece with six stones in it is not a birthstone piece. Single-colour look-alikes are included under the month they match.

Giving it well

Necklaces are the safe default — sixteen to eighteen inches suits nearly everyone. Stud earrings are the safest of all if you do not know her style. A stretch bracelet works when you do not know her size, which is most of the time.

For a family piece, pick a month per person and layer them. For a milestone, go up a tier rather than adding a second item.

Prices in CAD, wrapped by a human. Canadian small business, Calgary, Alberta, since 2008.