Birthstones by Month: The Traditional Gems and the Crystals to Match

Birthstones by month, the traditional gems and the crystals you can hold today

Everyone has a birthstone, but not everyone wants a diamond, a ruby or a sapphire on a Tuesday afternoon. This guide to birthstones by month gives you the traditional gem for every month, where those lists actually came from, and the crystal or tumblestone that carries the same colour and story for a pound or two.

Birthstones by month at a glance

Here is the whole year in one place. The first column is the traditional gem most people know. The second is the crystal we suggest starting with, chosen because it is either on an official birthstone list already or shares the colour and character of the gem. The third shows the star signs that fall in each month, because your birthstone and your zodiac crystals are two different things, and most people only ever hear about one of them.

• January: Garnet. Start with garnet itself, or red jasper. Capricorn and Aquarius.
• February: Amethyst. Start with amethyst. Aquarius and Pisces.
• March: Aquamarine or bloodstone. Start with Dragon Bloodstone. Pisces and Aries.
• April: Diamond or rock crystal. Start with clear quartz. Aries and Taurus.
• May: Emerald or chrysoprase. Start with green aventurine. Taurus and Gemini.
• June: Pearl or moonstone. Start with moonstone. Gemini and Cancer.
• July: Ruby or carnelian. Start with carnelian. Cancer and Leo.
• August: Peridot or sardonyx. Start with prasiolite. Leo and Virgo.
• September: Sapphire or lapis lazuli. Start with lapis lazuli. Virgo and Libra.
• October: Opal or tourmaline. Start with pink tourmaline or rose quartz. Libra and Scorpio.
• November: Topaz or citrine. Start with citrine. Scorpio and Sagittarius.
• December: Tanzanite or turquoise. Start with lapis lazuli. Sagittarius and Capricorn.

Where birthstones really come from

The story usually starts with the breastplate of Aaron in the Book of Exodus, set with twelve stones for the twelve tribes of Israel. In the first century the historian Josephus linked those twelve stones to the twelve months and the twelve signs of the zodiac. Later, St Jerome suggested the twelve foundation stones of the New Jerusalem would suit Christians just as well.

That is the ancient root, but it is a long way from a jeweller’s window. Nobody agrees exactly when people began wearing one stone for their birth month. The gem writer George Kunz placed the custom in eighteenth century Poland. The Gemological Institute of America puts it earlier, in Germany in the 1560s. What is certain is that the modern lists have very little to do with the breastplate at all.

The list most websites copy is American. In August 1912 the National Association of Jewelers met in Kansas City and adopted an official list, and it has been revised several times since, with tanzanite added to December in 2002. Britain has its own version. The National Association of Goldsmiths drew up a standard list in 1937, and the current UK list gives a second stone for several months: rock crystal in April, chrysoprase in May, carnelian in July, lapis lazuli in September and citrine in November. You can see every version side by side on the Wikipedia birthstone page.

The British list already names crystals. A clear quartz point is an April birthstone, not a stand in for one.

Why a crystal can carry your birthstone

Birthstone lists were written by jewellers, so they lean towards stones that sell well in a ring. That is fair enough, but it means a lot of people assume their birthstone is out of reach. It is not. The UK list itself offers a crystal option in five months, and the older traditions were always about colour first. Before anyone could test a stone in a laboratory, a red stone was a red stone, and a green stone was a green stone.

So we have matched each month in two ways. Where a crystal is on an official list, we say so. Where it is not, we choose the closest colour match and tell you plainly that it is a different mineral. A birthstone you can keep in a pocket, hold during a quiet moment or set on a birthday altar is worth more to most of us than one that stays in a box.

Your birthstone month by month

Winter birthstones

January: garnet

Deep red garnet has been January’s stone on every list, British and American, so this is one of the easiest months to keep traditional. Our Blood Garnet Bracelet is real garnet you can wear every day, and the Almandine Garnet Sphere in Matrix is the showpiece version for a shelf or altar.

If you would like a tumblestone, red jasper shares the same earthy red and sits in our Crystals for Grounding tumbles. It is a jasper rather than a garnet, but it suits a month spent getting through the cold and dark. You can now choose red jasper as January in our Birthstone Tumblestones.

February: amethyst

Amethyst is February’s stone on every list, so the tumblestone is the traditional birthstone in its simplest form. Choose February in our Birthstone Tumblestones. Amethyst has long been linked with clear thinking and calm, and the Greek name itself means “not intoxicated”.

December: tanzanite, turquoise and lapis lazuli

December has changed more than any other month. The 1912 American list gave turquoise and lapis lazuli. The current UK list gives tanzanite and turquoise. We suggest deep blue lapis lazuli, which has a genuine place in December’s history and is the same velvet blue as a winter night. Choose December in the Birthstone Tumblestones, or look at the Lapis Lazuli Tower and Lapis Lazuli Bracelet.

Spring birthstones

March: aquamarine and bloodstone

March has two traditional stones: pale sea blue aquamarine and dark green bloodstone with its red flecks. We do not currently stock either, so here is our honest suggestion. Dragon Bloodstone, in our Crystals for Confidence and Crystals for Grounding tumbles, has the same green and red colouring as bloodstone. It is a different mineral, a mix of green epidote and red piemontite, so treat it as a colour companion for March rather than the classic stone. It is now March in our Birthstone Tumblestones too.

April: diamond and rock crystal

This is the month that surprises people most. The UK list names rock crystal alongside diamond, and rock crystal is simply the old name for clear quartz. So an April birthday can be marked with a clear quartz tumblestone from the Birthstone Tumblestones, a Clear Quartz Point or a Clear Quartz Palm Stone, and it is every bit as traditional as the diamond.

May: emerald and chrysoprase

May belongs to green: emerald on every list, and apple green chrysoprase on the UK list. Our suggestion is green aventurine, which shares that fresh spring green and has a soft shimmer in the light. You will find it as a tumble in Crystals for Luck, and as a Green Aventurine Tower or Green Aventurine Bracelet. It is a colour match rather than an emerald, and a lovely one. It is also May in our Birthstone Tumblestones.

Summer birthstones

June: pearl and moonstone

June is one of the few months where a crystal has been on the list since 1912. Moonstone sits alongside pearl on both the American and British lists, so a moonstone tumble from the Birthstone Tumblestones is fully traditional. For something larger, the Moonstone Sphere and Rainbow Moonstone Tower both catch the light beautifully.

July: ruby and carnelian

Ruby is the headline stone, but the UK list gives carnelian too, the warm orange red stone worn as seals and amulets since the ancient world. Choose July in the Birthstone Tumblestones, or look at the Carnelian Druzy Palm Stone and Carnelian Sphere.

August: peridot and sardonyx

Peridot is the olive green gem of August. We suggest prasiolite, sometimes called green amethyst, as a gentle colour match. It is a quartz rather than a peridot, and we are happy to say so, but its soft green sits well with the late summer month. Choose August in the Birthstone Tumblestones.

Autumn birthstones

September: sapphire and lapis lazuli

Sapphire is the famous one, but the UK list gives lapis lazuli as September’s second stone, so the deep blue tumble is a true birthstone here. Choose September in the Birthstone Tumblestones, or the Lapis Lazuli Sphere for a centrepiece.

October: opal and tourmaline

October has opal on every list and tourmaline on the American one, so a pink tourmaline is a real October birthstone. Our Pink Tourmaline Tower is a single statement piece. For an everyday stone, choose October in the Birthstone Tumblestones, which gives you rose quartz in the same soft pink. A quick word on opalite: it is a lovely glass, not an opal, and we would always rather you knew. There is more on this month in our October birthstone edit.

November: topaz and citrine

Golden topaz is the traditional gem, and the UK list gives citrine alongside it, so citrine is a genuine November birthstone. Choose November in the Birthstone Tumblestones, or see our Citrine Point. Much of the bright yellow citrine sold today is heat treated amethyst. Natural citrine is usually paler and smokier, and both have their place as long as they are described honestly.

Birthstone or star sign? Use both

Here is the part most birthstone guides leave out. Your birth month and your star sign do not line up. Signs change around the twentieth of each month, so someone born on 25 March has March’s birthstone but is an Aries, not a Pisces. That gives every one of us two sets of stones to work with: one from the calendar and one from the sky.

Pairing them makes a thoughtful birthday gift. Choose the birthstone tumble for the month, then add the zodiac set for the sign. Our Zodiac Tumblestone Sets at £9.99 bring together several stones traditionally linked to each sign, and the Zodiac Crystal Sets with Selenite at £11.99 add a selenite piece to rest them on.

• Aries, 21 March to 19 April: tumblestone set or set with selenite
• Taurus, 20 April to 20 May: tumblestone set or set with selenite
• Gemini, 21 May to 20 June: tumblestone set or set with selenite
• Cancer, 21 June to 22 July: tumblestone set or set with selenite
• Leo, 23 July to 22 August: set with selenite
• Virgo, 23 August to 22 September: tumblestone set or set with selenite
• Libra, 23 September to 22 October: tumblestone set or set with selenite
• Scorpio, 23 October to 21 November: tumblestone set or set with selenite
• Sagittarius, 22 November to 21 December: set with selenite
• Capricorn, 22 December to 19 January: tumblestone set or set with selenite
• Aquarius, 20 January to 18 February: tumblestone set or set with selenite
• Pisces, 19 February to 20 March: tumblestone set or set with selenite

Exact sign dates shift by a day from year to year, so if a birthday falls right on the change, a birth chart will tell you which side of the line it lands. Our guide to the zodiac signs and their planetary rulers goes further into each sign.

How to work with your birthstone

The traditional way is the simplest. Birthstones were worn or carried, close to the body, as a personal token for the year. You can do exactly that: keep the tumblestone in a pocket or purse, wear it as a bracelet, or keep it on a bedside table.

• Cleanse it first. Rest it on selenite overnight, leave it in moonlight on a windowsill, or pass it through incense smoke.
• Set an intention. Hold the stone and say aloud what you would like the coming year to bring. Some people like to write it down and keep the stone on top of the paper.
• Mark your birthday. Place your birthstone and your zodiac stones together on a small altar on the day itself, with a candle, and take a quiet moment before the celebrations start.
• Revisit it each month. Hold it, notice how it feels in your hand, and let it remind you of the intention you set.

If you are creating a crystal grid for the year ahead, a birthstone makes a natural centre. Our solar return crystal grids guide shows how to build one around your birthday.