List of Birthstones by Month

January

The modern birthstone for the month of January is the garnet, which is also the traditional gemstone of the month, going as far back as several ancient calendars, namely, the Roman, Italian, Polish, Russian, Hebrew, Arabic and old Hindu (Ayurvedic) calendar. This first month’s birthstone commonly occurs as red gemstones, though other colors are also available. Beside garnet, birthstones of the month of January include, red zircon, emerald and serpent stone. See 4 Choices of January Birthstone.

February

The modern birthstone for the month of February is the amethyst, which is also a traditional birthstone of the month, going as far as the ancient Roman, Italian, Polish, Russian, Hebrew, Arabic and old Hindu calendar. The second month’s birthstone is the violet variety of quartz. Beside amethyst, gems of the month of February include hyacinth (red zircon), pearl, moonstone and bloodstone. See 5 Choices of February Birthstone.

March

Aquamarine is the modern birthstone for the month of March. Formerly the primary birthstone of March was bloodstone, until 1952, when the stones of the month were switched, and bloodstone, which was the traditional and ancient birthstone for March, became alternate birthstone to aquamarine. Aquamarine is the blue variety of beryl, which is popular as emerald in its green variety. Other gemstones of the month of March include jasper, jade and gold siva-linga. See 5 Choices of March Birthstone.

April

The modern birthstone for the month of April is diamond, with clear quartz as alternate birthstone in Britain. Diamond was also the traditional birthstone for the month going back to the Polish and old Hindu calendar, though in other ancient calendars, sapphire was most consistently regarded as birthstone of April. Gems of the month of April also include opal, as recorded in the old Tibetan calendar. See 4 Choices of April Birthstone.

May

The modern birthstone for the month of May is emerald, which is also the traditional birthstone for the month as far back as the ancient Polish, Russian and Arabic calendar. The other traditional birthstone for the month of May, agate, which is also the zodiac stone for Gemini, was regarded as the birthstone for May in most other ancient calendars. Birthstones of the month also include carnelian, chalcedony and sapphire. See 6 Choices of May Birthstone.

June

The modern birthstone for the month of June is pearl, with moonstone and alexandrite as alternate birthstones. Pearl was the birthstone for June as far as back as the ancient Arabic and old Hindu calendar, although emerald and agate were the gemstones regarded as the stones of the month in other ancient calendars. Gemstones of the month of June also include chalcedony, cat’s eye and turquoise. See 8 Choices of June Birthstone.

July

The modern birthstone for the month of July is ruby, with carnelian as alternate birthstone in Britain. Ruby was also traditionally regarded as birthstone for the month from as far back as the ancient Polish, Russian and old Hindu calendar, though onyx was even more widely accepted as the traditional birthstone for July. Both onyx and ruby are birthstones for Leo. Other birthstones of the month of July include sardonyx, turquoise, carnelian and sapphire. See 6 Choices of July Birthstone.

August

The modern birthstone for the month August is peridot, with sardonyx as alternate birthstone in Britain. Peridot was in fact never designated as birthstone for August traditionally, but was assigned as birthstone for the month of September in most ancient calendars. Sardonyx and carnelian were the gemstones widely accepted as the stones of the month of August. Other gems of the month include moonstone, topaz, alexandrite, diamond, ruby and sapphire. See 9 Choices of August Birthstone.

September

The modern birthstone for the month of September is sapphire, with lapis lazuli as alternate birthstone in Britain. The traditional birthstone for the month is peridot, which goes as far back as the old Italian, Russian, Hebrew and Arabic calendar. Other stones of the month of September include sardonyx, agate, moonstone and zircon. See 7 Choices of September Birthstone.

October

The modern birthstone for October is opal, with tourmaline as alternate birthstone in the United States. The traditional birthstone for the month most widely accepted in the ancient calendars is the blue variety of beryl, aquamarine. Beside opal, aquamarine, beryl and tourmaline, birthstones of the month of October include jasper and coral. See 6 Choices of October Birthstone.

November

The modern birthstone for November is yellow topaz, with citrine as alternate birthstone. Topaz was also consistently regarded as birthstone for the month in the ancient calendars, with only the exception of the Hindu and the old Tibetan calendar, where cat’s eye and pearl are the gems of the month of November respectively. See 4 Choices of November Birthstone.

December

The modern birthstone for December is turquoise. Tanzanite, which was discovered only in 1967, was made an alternate birthstone for the month in 2002, while earlier in 1952, lapis lazuli was replaced in the U.S. by zircon as alternate birthstone for December. Blue topaz has also been listed among the modern gems of the month. Other gemstones of the month of December include ruby, onyx, chrysoprase and cat’s eye. See 9 Choices of December Birthstone.

Colors of Birthstones by Month

What are the birthstone colors for each month? Where birthstones were traditionally determined by the zodiac signs falling in a particular month, birthstones are now specified according to the colors associated with the months of the year, thus classifying colors of birthstones by month. Still, choices of gemstone colors by month are usually inspired by the actual birthstones. What’s different is, additional, new or alternate birthstones are added to the list according to the birthstone colors for every month. To the right are the different birthstone colors by month.