Birthstones by Month: The Complete Guide
Search for your birthstone and you will find charts that disagree with each other. That is not your imagination. Birthstone lists have been revised several times over the last century, and a few months genuinely carry more than one stone. This guide gives you the month-by-month chart, the color of each stone, the meaning tradition attaches to it, a straight answer to the zodiac question, and an honest note about what we actually set into our own pieces.
What is a birthstone?
A birthstone is a gemstone associated with a calendar month. The idea is old, and it is usually traced back to ancient lists of twelve stones, but the chart most people use today descends from a standardized list published by the American jewelry trade in 1912, with a handful of official additions since. That is why older family jewelry sometimes carries a different stone than the one you expect for the same month.
One thing worth saying up front: everything below about a stone encouraging calm, courage or loyalty is traditional lore. It is the story that has traveled with the stone, and it is a lovely thing to wear. It is not a claim about what the stone does.
What is my birthstone? The month-by-month chart
January — Garnet
Deep wine red, though garnet also occurs in orange and green. Traditionally associated with constancy, close friendship, and the safe return of a traveler, which is why it was a common parting gift.
February — Amethyst
Purple quartz, ranging from pale lilac to a saturated grape. Long associated in lore with clear-headedness, calm, and self-possession.
March — Aquamarine
A pale sea blue that leans slightly green. Its name comes from the Latin for seawater, and tradition connects it to courage, steadiness, and safe passage across water.
April — Diamond
Colorless and brilliant. Traditionally a symbol of strength, clarity, and enduring love. In our jewelry, April is represented by a clear white zircon crystal rather than a diamond, which we say plainly rather than let you assume otherwise.
May — Emerald
Vivid grass green. Associated in tradition with renewal, growth, and faithfulness, and often chosen for spring births for exactly that reason.
June — Pearl, Alexandrite, or Moonstone
June has three. Pearl is soft white or cream with a warm luster; alexandrite is known for appearing green in daylight and reddish under lamplight; moonstone has a floating blue-white sheen. Tradition links them to purity, adaptability, and intuition.
July — Ruby
Rich red, from the same mineral family as sapphire. Perhaps the most storied of all the stones, traditionally tied to passion, vitality, and protection.
August — Peridot
A distinctive yellow-green, unusual because it appears in only one color. Tradition associates it with warmth, good humor, and prosperity.
September — Sapphire
Classic royal blue, although sapphires occur in nearly every color except red. Traditionally linked to wisdom, loyalty, and truthfulness.
October — Opal or Tourmaline
Opal shows shifting flashes of color across a pale body; tourmaline is most often chosen in pink and rose tones for October. Tradition connects them to hope, imagination, and creative work.
November — Topaz or Citrine
Both are warm and golden, from honey amber to bright sunlit yellow. Associated in tradition with generosity, confidence, and good cheer.
December — Turquoise, Tanzanite, or Blue Zircon
A cool family running from opaque sky-blue turquoise to violet-blue tanzanite to the bright blue of zircon. Turquoise in particular carries a long tradition as a protective stone across many cultures.
Why do some months have more than one birthstone?
Mostly for practical reasons. Some original stones were rare, expensive, or difficult to source in a consistent color, so alternatives were added to the official list over the years. June, October, November and December all ended up with more than one option.
When a month gives you a choice, the easiest way to decide is by color rather than by prestige. Ask what the person actually wears. A December baby's mother who wears warm gold tones may prefer the softer opaque blue of turquoise over the sharper violet of tanzanite. For a piece that sets several stones side by side, choose whichever option sits best next to its neighbors, and let the arrangement look like a considered palette rather than a checklist.
Which birthstone goes with my zodiac sign?
This is the most common point of confusion, and the answer is simple: every zodiac sign spans two calendar months. Capricorn runs from late December into January, Aries from late March into April, Libra from late September into October, and so on for all twelve. So a sign cannot map cleanly onto a single month's stone.
There are separate zodiac stone traditions, and they do not agree with the modern birthstone chart either. For jewelry, birth month is the practical choice, because it is unambiguous, it is what everyone else will recognize, and it is what the chart above is built on. If it is the sign itself someone identifies with, the cleaner solution is to wear the sign rather than approximate it with a stone. Our zodiac collection covers that directly, and there is nothing stopping anyone from wearing both.
What stones do we actually set?
We would rather tell you this than have you find out later. Beleco sets high-quality birthstone crystals matched to each month's traditional color. They are not mined gemstones, and we do not describe them as such. They are cut to hold light well, they are consistent from piece to piece, and they keep birthstone jewelry at a price where you can give a piece for every child in a family.
The metals are just as straightforward. Our gold, rose gold and silver finishes are plated over stainless steel, which is why they wear well through daily use. Our sterling silver 925 pieces are solid and unplated. Every piece is made to order in our own workshop in Israel in 3 to 5 business days, because we are the factory rather than a reseller.
How do you choose a birthstone gift for a mother or grandmother?
This is where birthstone jewelry does something a name alone cannot. A mother's piece sets one stone per child, in birth order, so the necklace is a small record of a family. A grandmother's piece does the same thing across a generation, and it can be added to as the family grows.
A few things worth deciding before you order. Fix the order of the stones first, usually oldest to youngest, so the piece reads consistently if you add to it later. Decide whether you want names engraved alongside the stones or the stones on their own. And think about how many stones the design can carry comfortably; past a certain number, a bracelet or a pendant with a wider bar will sit better than a small charm.
For a single recipient, one stone in their own month is the quieter version of the same idea, and it works as a birthday gift in any year without needing an occasion attached to it.
Where to start
Browse the full range in our birthstone collection, where you can choose the month, the metal finish, and whether you want a name engraved with it. If the sign matters more than the month, start with the zodiac collection instead.
Every order is handmade to order in 3 to 5 business days. Shipping is free to the US and UK, returns are open for 100 days, and every piece carries a one-year warranty. We have a 4.9-star rating from more than 5,800 reviews, and most of them are about exactly this kind of gift.