A Buyer's Guide to Birthstone Jewelry - Find the Best Gemstone for You at Dean’s Jewelry
Have you ever found a piece of jewelry that feels like it was made for you? Like you were born to wear it? Chances are you might’ve unknowingly stumbled upon your birthstone, or just hit the jackpot at a custom jewelry store like Deans.
If you’re looking for something with that ‘made-for-you’ feel, birthstone jewelry is the answer. It’s a fun way to get something that feels unique to you but is still in style. Birthstones cover so many fun gemstones and they all have their own interesting history.
At Dean’s we want you to know what you’re getting with some of these popular alternative gemstones. So to help we’ve prepared a buyer’s guide to birthstone jewelry.
January Birthstone: Garnet
Garnet is a group of several minerals: pyrope, almandine, spessartine, grossular, and andradite.
Pyrope and almandine are purple or red. Spessartine is orange and yellow. Andradite is yellow to green. And grossular has the widest range, from colorless to yellow, to orange, to red, and even a vibrant green, known as tsavorite.
This makes garnet one of the most varied gemstones on the market, giving those looking for garnet birthstone jewelry lots of options. The most iconic garnet is a deep red, that gives a warm almost amber honey glow.
February Birthstone: Amethyst
Amethyst is known for its brilliant purple color, ranging from light shades of lavender to pale violet to deep purple. But did you know that this gemstone is actually a type of quartz? This fact makes this gemstone rather hard and tough, meaning it's a good candidate for the jewelry you wear regularly.
Although it will require occasional repolishing, the availability and affordability of this gemstone make for beautiful amethyst birthstone jewelry.
March Birthstone: Aquamarine or Bloodstone
Aquamarine is the pale blue to a light green cousin of emerald, both being in the beryl mineral family. Aquamarine on the other hand is much more affordable than emerald and boasts fewer inclusions than its cousin. Meaning aquamarine is a great cost-effective way to get brilliant and clear gemstones without breaking the bank for diamonds. Its midrange durability even makes it a decent option for everyday wear.
Bloodstone is a stone commonly associated with health and vitality. It takes its name from the deep red inclusions that are patterned like a splatter across a deep green jasper. It’s another variant of quartz coloration and can be both translucent and solid, with lots of variation in the displays. This makes each piece of bloodstone truly unique.
April Birthstone: Diamond
Perhaps the best-known gemstone, Diamonds are brilliant stones and the hardest material in existence. Pure diamonds will be completely transparent, as any coloration is caused by impurities. However, some of these added hues make the diamond more desirable for those looking for a certain coloration.
In many ways, diamonds are the standard by which other gemstones are measured. And thanks to the increased availability of artificial diamonds, diamonds are becoming more affordable than ever for diamond birthstone jewelry.
May Birthstone: Emerald
The least durable of the big four gemstones (diamond, sapphire, and ruby), the Emerald is nonetheless beautiful, and desirable. As green as the spring, emeralds can be graded by the eye, as their inclusions tend to be bigger than those of diamonds. Emerald birthstone jewelry is the perfect complement to the floral patterns so commonly worn in spring. Emeralds make great gifts and have associations with health and wealth.
June Birthstone: Pearl, Alexandrite, or Moonstone
Pearl is one of the rare animal-made gemstones. It interestingly comes from a natural process done by shelled animals. When an irritant, like a piece of sand, gets inside the animal covers the intrusion with the same hard covering they use for their shell. The result is a beautiful iridescent shape, usually a perfect sphere.
These range in color from milky white to silver and golden hues. This process can be mimicked on farms, helping reduce the cost of peal. But they remain as beautiful as they are delicate and rare.
Alexandrite is a rare variant of chrysoberyl that actually color shifts depending on the lighting. The color shift is different depending on where you source your stone, but one common example is displaying a green hue by daylight and shifting to red when viewed by incandescent light. They make a great center stone because of their exceptional hardness, scoring an 8.5 on the Mohs scale.
Moonstone takes its name from the distinct adularescence effect. It’s a fancy way of saying the stones appear to have a natural glow. Light diffracts through the stone in a unique way that produces a milky, blueish interior light.
Moonstone is a great way to get the pearlescent effect without having to use an animal product to get the look you're after. If you’re vegan, moonstone birthstone jewelry makes a great alternative to pearls for June.
July Birthstone: Ruby
Red corundum, better known as ruby, ranges in color from light pinks to deep blood reds. Known throughout their history for their brilliance and durability, these precious gemstones make great decorative jewels. Fiery and bright like the months of July, ruby birthstone jewelry is the perfect fit to show off your shine.
August Birthstone: Peridot, Spinel, or Sardonyx
Peridot is one of the few gemstones that has only one color. Peridot is a distinct deep yellowish-green gemstone quality variation of the common mineral olivine. It’s one of the earliest recorded gemstones, having been prized since even the earliest civilizations. This gemstone can even be found in meteorites.
However, given its relative softness, scoring a 6.5-7 on the Mohs scale, this softer gemstone is better suited for peridot birthstone jewelry that is only worn on occasion.
Spinel is the August birthstone of choice for those who prefer variety. Spinel gemstones can be red, pink, orange, purple, violet, blue, and blue-green. The brilliance, quality, and color variety of these gems has meant that over the centuries it has been mistaken for other precious gemstones of similar colors.
In fact, red spinel is the center stone of the Imperial British Crown. Spinel birthstone jewelry is a great way to choose your color and rock a royal look.
Sardonyx is a banded quartz formation that pairs sard and onyx, as the name suggests. These beautiful bands contrast starkly with each other and make a perfect setting for carving cameos. Valued since Roman times, this sardonyx birthstone jewelry makes an elegant choice.
September Birthstone: Sapphire
The most popular variant of corundum, sapphires are known best for their blue variation. Exceptionally durable, with a Mohs scale value of 9, these stones are second only to diamonds for durability and desirability for jewelry meant to be worn every day. It’s so popular that even royalty has been known to sport sapphire engagement rings throughout history.
October Birthstone: Opal
Opal comes in two broad categories: precious and common.
In broad terms, common opal does not demonstrate the characteristic iridescence or ‘play-of-color’. This means that depending on how the light hits your precious opal it shines with different colors. This means your opal might display any color of the spectrum. Opal birthstone jewelry is like owning a piece of sunshine.
November Birthstone: Topaz
Topaz comes in a variety of colors including colorless, light blue, yellow, orange, pink, violet, brown, and in very rare cases pure red. The most distinct forms of topaz are the yellow-orange hues evocative of a warm fire or the changing leaves of autumn. Topaz makes a perfect fall color compliment, so it’s a good fit for the November birthstone.
December Birthstone: Turquoise or Tanzanite
Turquoise is perhaps the bluest of blue gems or an aquatic green that’s often striped by veins of other colors. For millennia turquoise has been a prized stone, but despite the honor, it remains affordable and abundant. However, given the softer nature of this gemstone, it’s best to be soft on your turquoise.
Tanzanite is a newly discovered gemstone, unknown until the 20th century. Blue stones were found in mines in Tanzania and quickly became an international sensation. Jewelry designers were quick to market the unique beauty of these stones.
There’s a Birthstone for Everyone at Dean’s Jewelry!
We hope you enjoyed taking a look at some of the most popular birthstones for each month. But this is by no means a complete list. For example, there are different birthstone standards in the US versus the UK. So if you don’t find the stone that fits your style, and are a bit disappointed with your month's assignment there are a few options for every month.
The best way to find the birthstone that best expresses your unique style is to come to a qualified jeweler like Dean’s Jewelry. Qualified professionals and a team of certified gemologists can help find stones that suit your style and intended purpose, with custom jewelers having no trouble making something unique to you!
Schedule your appointment with one of your jewelry experts on staff so that we can provide you with the personal time and attention you deserve! We’ll see you soon at Dean’s Jewelers in Mount Vernon, OH, and Coshocton, OH!