Emerald, the birthstone for May, has been beloved for millennia, evoking rebirth and renewal. Widely regarded as the definition of green, emerald is the perfect color for spring.
Variations of this rich green color suggest soothing, lush gardens. Legend has it that emerald has the power to make its wearer more intelligent and quick-witted, and it was once believed to cure diseases like cholera and malaria. Today, it's the gemstone given for the 20th and 35th wedding anniversaries.
From Egyptian pharaohs to Inca emperors, emerald has enchanted royalty. Cleopatra was known to have a passion for emerald and used it in her royal adornments. The legendary Crown of the Andes, fashioned in colonial South America, is one example of how the Spanish revered the May birthstone. According to lore, its largest stone—now called the Atahualpa emerald—was taken from the last Inca emperor, Atahualpa, by conquistador Francisco Pizarro.
The green birthstone was also thought to have magical powers. By placing it under the tongue, one could see into the future. Some believed it made one an eloquent speaker and exposed lovers who made false promises.
Colombia has been the source of the finest emeralds for more than years, and Colombian emeralds are the standard by which all others are measured.
Three mining sites in Colombia are particularly noteworthy: Muzo, Chivor and Coscuez. Each locality produces a range of colors but, generally speaking, darker tones of pure green emeralds come from Muzo. Emeralds that are lighter in tone and slightly bluish green are associated with Chivor.
Birthstones by Month: January: Garnet. February: Amethyst. March: Aquamarine, Bloodstone. April: Diamond. May: Emerald. June: Pearl, Alexandrite, Moonstone. July: Ruby. August: Peridot, Spinel, Sardonyx. September: Sapphire. October: Opal, Tourmaline.
November: Topaz, Citrine. December: Turquoise, Zircon, Tanzanite. Birthstones are gemstones that represent the month of a person's birth.
As an example, emerald is the birthstone for the month of May. So, people born in May have emerald as their birthstone. Click on a month to see the birthstone s for that month. Garnet is the birthstone of January. Although many people think of a red gem when they think of garnet, it is actually available in almost every color - green tsavorite and demantoid , orange spessartine and hessionite , purple rhodolite , yellow mali and topazolite , pink malaya , red almandine and pyrope , black melanite.
These are just some of garnet's many colors and varieties. There are even opaque garnets that are usually cut as a cabochon pink hydrogrossular and green grossularite. The color variety of garnet gives people born in January many color options.
The accompanying photo shows some of the many different colors in which garnet can occur. Top row, from left to right: orange spessartite Mozambique , yellow mali Mali , green demantoid Namibia. Middle row: green tsavorite Tanzania , purple rhodolite Mozambique , pink malaya Tanzania. Except for the orange hessonite from Sri Lanka, all of these garnets were mined in Africa, the relatively new source of spectacular garnets.
Amethyst is the birthstone for February. It is the world's most popular purple gem - and that enhances its status as a birthstone. The purple color of amethyst can be so light that it is barely perceptible, or so dark that a faceted gem can be nearly opaque. The color of amethyst spans a range from violetish purple, to purple, to reddish purple.
Four Peaks is the most important amethyst mine in the United States. Aquamarine is the the birthstone for the month of March. Aquamarine is the blue variety of the mineral known as beryl. It occurs in a range of colors from slightly greenish blue to a nearly pure blue hue.
Aquamarine also occurs in a range of color saturations, from a very light, almost imperceptible blue to a rich deep blue. The richly colored aquamarines with the purest blue color are most popular. Many people enjoy the light-colored stones which are much more affordable.
Bloodstone is another gem that serves as a birthstone for March. It is an opaque green chalcedony that is marked with splashes of red and often other colors. Bloodstone receives its name from the red splashes of blood-like color.
As an opaque gem, bloodstone is usually cut into dome or shield-shaped gems known as cabochons. It has been a popular gemstone for at least two thousand years. In Europe and in older publications bloodstone is known by the name "heliotrope".
Bloodstone is a popular and durable gem for men's rings, cufflinks, and tie tacks. Diamond is the birthstone of April. It is the world's most popular gem. Many people enjoy diamond because of its brilliance and because of its dispersion. Dispersion is the ability of a gem to act as a prism and separate light into its component colors - as shown by the diamond in the accompanying photo. Diamond is one of the most expensive birthstones.
When cost is a concern, many people opt for a smaller stone. Others decide to purchase a more affordable lab-grown diamond. If cost is not an issue, then a beautiful colored diamond might be possible!
Emerald is the birthstone for the month of May. It is the world's most popular green gem. It is the green variety of the mineral beryl. Emeralds range in color from slightly yellowish green, to pure green, to slightly bluish green.
Pure green emeralds are the most popular and valuable. Emerald can be a costly gem, and it often lacks the high level of clarity that many people desire. For that reason, lab-grown emeralds have become a popular option in birthstone jewelry. Lab-grown emeralds can be purchased at a small fraction of the cost of a natural emerald of similar size, color, and clarity.
The buyer and the recipient of an emerald birthstone gift might be pleased with this option. Pearl is an organic gem and the traditional birthstone for the month of June. There are three basic types of pearls: 1 natural pearls, which form naturally within the shell of a living mollusk; 2 cultured pearls, which are propagated by people by inserting a "seed" into a mollusk shell with the intent that the mollusk will deposit layers of nacre around it; and, 3 imitation pearls, which are usually plastic beads with a lustrous coating applied.
Most pearls in today's market are cultured pearls, which are very affordable when compared to natural pearls, and make a much nicer gift than imitation pearls.
Most jewelry stores sell pearl jewelry, most often with cultured pearls. The pearls in the photo are a white South Sea pearl, a black Tahitian pearl, and a gold South Sea pearl. Alexandrite is a color-change variety of chrysoberyl that appears as different colors under daylight and incandescent illumination.
Pictured here is a faceted specimen of color-change alexandrite of Natural alexandrite of good color and clarity is an extremely expensive gem, however, lab-created alexandrite can be found in many jewelry stores.
Some of the lab-grown alexandrite has a spectacular appearance! Photo by David Weinberg for Alexandrite. Moonstone is a feldspar mineral that produces a "pearly" luster when light enters the stone and is reflected by mineral layers within the gem. Moonstone is most often a white or gray color with a glow that is white or silvery - like the glow of the moon that's how it got its name!
Moonstone also occurs in pink, orange, near-colorless and other colors. Rare moonstones produce a blue or a multicolored glow. These are called "rainbow moonstones" and they are market favorites. The accompanying photo shows two cabochons of rainbow moonstone with a bright blue glow. Ruby is the birthstone for the month of July and the world's most popular red gem.
Rubies range in color from orangy-red, to red, to slightly purplish-red. The most desirable and valuable colors are pure red and slightly purplish red. Natural rubies have historically been expensive gems, but recent discoveries in Africa bring many attractive natural rubies into the market at affordable prices.
Lab-grown ruby is very common in jewelry stores in the United States. Lab-grown rubies have been in the United States jewelry market since the early s. Today, if you go to a mall jewelry store such as Zales or Kay Jewelers, you will encounter a case with a large assortment of ruby jewelry items for sale. Many of them will likely be synthetic or lab-grown ruby. If you spend time studying them, you might note that the synthetic gems usually have better clarity and better color than natural gems of similar price.
Many people are happy to pay the higher price for natural gems because they treasure gems that formed naturally within the Earth. Others are happy with the great appearance and lower price of lab-created gems.
Peridot is a traditional birthstone for the month of August. It has a yellowish green color and is one of the world's most popular and affordable green gems. Shoppers can expect to find it in almost every jewelry store. Peridot is the gem variety of a mineral group known as olivine. Much of the world's peridot is found in basalt flows. Basalt is an igneous rock that solidified from lavas erupted from volcanoes. The green sand beaches of Hawaii contain peridot crystals weathered from basalt.
Some peridot falls to Earth in meteorites. Spinel is a newcomer to birthstone jewelry. Being named a birthstone will do more for the popularity of spinel than millions of dollars spent on advertising. Spinel is the perfect birthstone. First, spinel occurs in every color of the spectrum - now people born in August are no longer limited to a yellowish-green peridot.
Spinel occurs in a red color similar to ruby and a blue color similar to sapphire. A tourmaline is a boron silicate mineral that occur within igneous and metamorphic rocks.
The other birthstone is opal, which gets its name from the Greek word opallios. This roughly translates into "to see a change in color" as demonstrated when you spin an opal. Opal forms when water picks up silica dioxide and deposits it into open voids or cavities along with trace impurities.
The water then evaporates and leaves the silica dioxide. Most of the opal in the world is produced from Australia, where seasonal rains make it common for water to leach out silica and deposit it into cracks within the ground. I love you as certain dark things are to be loved, in secret, between the shadow and the soul.
Both topaz and citrine are the birthstones associated with the birth month of November. Topaz is the more common gemstone associated with November and comes in a variety of yellow hues. The name topaz comes from the Greek name for St. John's Island located in the Red Sea, Topazios. This is because yellow gems were mined on this island, however they were likely not topaz. Topaz picks up its bright yellow color from impurities, as with most gems.
In pure form, topaz is colorless but can take on a variety of colors dependent on certain impurities. Although topaz has been used in many forms for thousands of years, the term was widely used for any light-yellow gem and hence most references to topaz in history could be other gems. There are three birthstones for the month of December: tanzanite, zircon and turquoise. All three of these stones are a deep blue color and have their own history and chemical composition.
One of the more interesting of the three is tanzanite, a gem you may not have heard of before. This rare gem is only found in Tanzania and was only recently discovered in Tanzanite gets its deep blue color from trace amounts of vanadium.
Tanzanite was discovered by Maasai herders who were tending to the Merelani Hills around Arusha, Tanzania. These herders came across blue crystals and notified a prospector who then registered the area with the government to begin mining.
The name Tanzanite was coined by Tiffany and Company who became the primary distributor of the gem and wanted to showcase the rare geographical source of this stone. Hopefully you have found this guide to the birthstones for every month of the year helpful. As a geologist, I enjoy spreading knowledge about the gems you wear every day. They have long histories and have been used to signify any number of meanings for thousands of years.
It's incredible to think of the history each one of these stones has in human's history and how they will shape views of wealth and power for centuries to come. Let us know in the comments below which stone you purchased and whether it was a gift for your mom, daughter, wife, grandma, or anyone else. This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here.
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Edit Story. Jul 2, , am EDT. Polished birthstones for each of the 12 months Wikipedia. Diamond has a solid, defined crystal lattice as shown above Wikipedia. Uncut and unpolished birthstone gemstones for each of the 12 months Wikipedia.
Garnet Birthstone Wikipedia. Very rarely blue Hardness 6. Amethyst Birthstone Wikipedia. Aquamarine Birthstone Wikipedia. Diamond Birthstone Wikipedia. Rarely a diamond can be blue, green, black, translucent white, pink, violet, orange, purple, or red.
Emerald Birthstone Wikipedia. Pearl Birthstone Wikipedia. Ruby Birthstone Wikipedia. Peridot Birthstone Wikipedia. Sapphire Birthstone Wikipedia.
Opal and Tourmaline Birthstones Wikipedia. Topaz Birthstone Wikipedia. Tanzanite Birthstone Wikipedia. Follow me on Twitter.
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