Traditional Birthstones

BIrthstones make a great, personal gift for a loved one. Here are the traditional birthstones associated with each month and suggestions for what precious metal should be paired with each.

January The birthstone for January is garnet. Garnets are typically very dark red, almost black in color. Garnets work okay when set into gold but really pop when set with silver or platinum.

February The birthstone for February is amethyst. Amethysts are typically purple in color and can range from rather light lilac all the way to dark royal purple. Amethysts look great when set in gold or silver, or even two-tone.

March. The birthstone for March is aquamarine and as the name would indicate, they are a light to medium blue color. They look lovely set in silver or platinum.

April. The birthstone for April is diamond. The most precious of all gemstones, diamonds look lovely when set with any precious metal. While diamonds can come in various colors, the vibrant clear or white is most traditional.

May. The birthstone for May is emerald. Emeralds are typically a gorgeous dark green in color and look best when set in gold.

June. The traditional birthstone for June is pearl, however since it is not really a stone, alexandrite has been used in recent years as well. Pearls are white or black in color and work best when set in gold. Alexandrite is very rare and thus quite expensive. It changes color from green to purple to red depending on the type of light the gem is exposed to. It looks great set in any metal.

July. The traditional birthstone for July is ruby. Rubies are a bright red and are lovely set in both gold and silver tones.

August. The traditional birthstone for August is peridot (the "T" is silent). Peridot is one of the most unique birthstones for it is a bright, almost lime green color and looks especially nice set in silver.

September. The traditional birthstone for September is sapphire. While Sapphires come in many colors, royal blue is the most known. Sapphires do well set in gold or silver.